


Flaring Flames

by lunarshores (damichan)



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-27
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 06:47:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 47,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3240203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damichan/pseuds/lunarshores
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of unrelated MarcoAce oneshots and ficlets. Varied settings. Set as complete but will be updated as I get prompts or ideas. All of them are rated T unless warned inside.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been putting off posting these here because there are so many, but I realized I don't have to do it all at once. I know, it really shouldn't have taken me that long. Anyway, I might forget again, so don't feel shy in asking since there are many more to go. Most of them are much longer than drabbles really...
> 
> Original notes: So I'll be posting any MarcoAce drabbles I write here. Drabbles come from prompts on Tumblr or random plot bunnies. Not beta'd, usually quickly written. 
> 
> Prompt: Embarrassed Ace in nurse outfit and perverted old man Marco XD

Ace drew the blanket more tightly around his chest and cracked open his door. He glanced furtively around the hallway, checking that the coast was clear, before dashing next door to Marco’s room. Ace burst into the room without knocking and slammed the door behind him. In his haste, the blanket loosened around his shoulders, revealing flashes of his outfit. Marco looked up from his desk, surprised at the sudden intrusion and decided that he must be dreaming. That was the only logical conclusion to what was before him. Ace’s relaxed grip on the blanket showed glimpses of white and red.  White stockings clung unevenly near Ace’s knees, drawing attention to the red stilettos the younger man wore. The slightly crooked nurse’s cap contrasted with Ace’s dark hair.

“What the hell is this contraption?” Ace waved a scarlet garter belt in frustration, allowing the blanket to slide forgotten off his shoulders, letting Marco see the entirety of his costume. “Why does this stupid outfit have to be so damn complicated? There’s like fifteen pieces of clothing, and I’m still not sure why--”

Marco tuned out him out as he leisurely took in the full view. The other man was wearing the skimpiest nurse outfit Marco had ever seen. The low cut white dress barely covered the curve of his ass, allowing anyone to see quite clearly that the garter was part of a matching set, as if the sheer fabric didn’t give enough away. Red bows with white cross pins decorated the traditional white cap, the tops of the stockings, and the base of the deep neckline.  

Ace trailed off when he finally noticed Marco staring at him and blushed almost the same color as the garter he was still clutching. He instinctively backed up against the closed door.  

“Um... Thatch...I lost...” He stammered, his eyes widening as Marco got up from his desk. Ace swallowed audibly as Marco drew closer.

“I-lost-a-bet-to-Thatch-I-have-to-wear-this-to-dinner-Izo-gave-it-to-me-then-he -vanished-and--” Marco put a finger to Ace’s lips, stopping the confused rush of words.

“It’s a garter belt, yoi. It’s used to keep your stockings up.”

Ace’s eyes lit up in comprehension, but before he could try to adjust his falling hosiery, Marco caught his wrists and pinned them to the door with one hand. He drew the garter from Ace’s slackening grip and threw it across the room. The older man smirked at the shocked expression on Ace’s face.

“But you won’t be needing it tonight.”

~~~

The next morning Ace woke up alone in Marco’s bed. He stretched leisurely, wincing a bit at the soreness in his lower back but then grinned smugly. After finding his clothes from the previous night had mysteriously vanished, Ace snuck back to his room to get dressed. He dreaded meeting Thatch and Izo after failing to uphold his end of the bargain, but for some reason they never mentioned the missed bet.

 

  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for the MarcoAce week on tumblr day 5. The theme was dancing. I wrote this while procrastinating writing day 4 yesterday, so it was kind of unplanned XD

“Happy Birthday, Ace!” Luffy yelled and laughed in his absolutely delighted way, hugging him tightly as Ace tried to blink the sleep from his eyes. “I’m so glad Ace was born. Here!” He thrust an envelope at Ace. Every year it was the same. Luffy would burst into his room as soon as the sun was peeking above the horizon. This behavior would have been annoying any day, but the day after New Year’s Eve parties, it was just plain cruel.

Ace looked warily at the cheerful red envelope held out to him by his little brother. The anticipatory expression on Luffy’s face made him even more reluctant to open his birthday present. Luffy’s presents were always unique, and while they usually turned out to be exactly what Ace needed later, they were often troublesome in the beginning. With Christmas so close to his birthday, this time of year tended to be a little hectic.

He was still recovering from the orphaned bear cub that Luffy had given him for Christmas. Luckily, Luffy had managed to mix up Ace’s and Law’s presents (how did someone mistakenly give someone else a bear cub?), and Ace’s gift had become a much more manageable leather jacket. Now he just had to worry where his younger brother had come up with the money for that. Luffy still hadn’t given him a straight answer. All in all, Ace wasn’t sure he wanted to open his latest gift.

Still, the hopeful look his brother was giving him was impossible to turn down, and Ace anything but a coward, so he accepted the envelope with his usual cocky smirk and opened it. Inside the unintelligible handdrawn card, was a gift card for six weeks of free ballroom dance lessons. At a gay bar. It was no secret Ace swung both ways, but still. And why ballroom dancing of all things? Ace groaned internally, looking at Luffy’s excited expression.

“Isn’t it awesome! Bon-chan is going to teach the class, and he told me he’d make sure you got special instruction. It’s at Iva-chan’s place! He’s trying something new.” Great. There was absolutely no way he’d get out of this, if Luffy’s friend owned the place. The first lesson was next week.

oOo

Luckily, it wasn’t required to dress up for the lessons. There was just no way Ace would put on a tie and go to dancing lessons. He loved his little brother, but there were limits. Ace reluctantly went to Kamabakka about five minutes before the lesson was supposed to start. These people did take care of Luffy, after all, so he at least had to pretend to be excited. How did Luffy come up with such ridiculous gifts anyway? He sighed and trudged through the door. Of the dozen or so people there almost all of them were at least twice his age and came with someone. Great.

Ace walked past the empty bar over to the dance floor, where he was instantly greeted by Luffy’s friends.

“Ace-boy, how good of you to make it!” Iva said, “It’s always nice to see some young faces at one of these.”

“Thank you for taking care of my brother,” Ace said politely, not mentioning anything about the dance class.

Bon Clay spun over enthusiastically, dragging an obviously reluctant man over.

“Ace, here’s your partner! He also has no one to dance the dances of love with!” Bon Clay shouted, ignoring Ace’s and the blond’s mortification and the curious stares of the other students. He spun off again, this time with Iva in tow, without introducing the two. Ace examined his new partner covertly. He might be a bit older than Ace, but damn, he was hot. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“I’m going to kill them, yoi,” the blond said under his breath, still bothered by the curious stares of the others, before holding out a hand to Ace, “I’m Marco.”

Ace smiled and shook the offered hand. “Ace. Did you also get forced into coming?”

Marco grimaced. “Yeah, it was a Christmas gift from my brothers. They seem to think I need to get out more. I couldn’t get out of it.” Marco blushed. “Not that I don’t get out. I get out plenty.”

Well, this evening was looking better and better. Ace grinned at the agitated man.

“Same here. Well, about the brother at least. It was a birthday present. My brother is friends with the owner.” Ace made a show of stretching his arms above his head, moaning as he did so. He noticed Marco eyes latch onto the movement. Definitely promising.

“Want to come on the dance floor?” Marco blinked at him. “It looks like the lesson is about to start.” Ace pointed where the others were gathering around Iva and Bon.

“O-oh... right.” Marco barely had a chance to answer before Ace grabbed his hand and pulled him over to where the others were clustered.

“Alright everyone! Let’s get started. We’re going to do a basic waltz today,” Iva said, “Let’s start off by getting into the basic position with your partner.” Ace tuned out the instruction and tugged Marco closer, putting one hand on his shoulder and adjusting his grip on the hand he’d yet to let go of. Marco was even more unbalanced by the sudden movement than Ace had hoped and his palm landed squarely on Ace’s ass.

“You’ve got the right idea, but I think it’s supposed to go a little higher up.” Ace smiled flirtatiously. “It’s a shame, though.”

Ace smirked at the flustered blond, who hastily corrected his grip but pulled him a bit closer than Bon-chan was demonstrating with Iva, blushing madly. Marco regained his composure much faster than Ace expected, and leaned in to whisper in Ace’s ear.

“Don’t think you’re the only one who can play that game, brat.” His lips just brushed Ace’s ear as he pulled away, at the same time his leg slide between Ace’s, following the steps that Bon and Iva was describing to the class.

Ace had definitely underestimated ballroom dancing, but he should have known. Luffy’s gifts always turned out to be the best.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drabble request by phoenix0725. MarcoAce Prostitute AU.

Ace trudged down the familiar streets, feeling lost. He was going to be late if he didn’t hurry, but even though that was the would only bring him more trouble, he couldn’t seem to make his feet go any faster or take a more direct route. Still, even by the most circuitous route Ace could come up with, he would be there soon. He swallowed hard and unconsciously rubbed his damp palms on his shorts.

It hadn’t seemed so bad until he’d started on his way. Still anything was better than Luffy being in this situation. Ace’s resolve strengthened at the thought of his little brother being in this position, and he turned down the street where the brothel he’d been assigned to lied without any more detours. After all, he volunteered for this; it wasn’t that big of a deal, right?

Another bout of nerves hit him as he reached the door, and Ace found himself lingering before it, relishing in the muggy heat of the night and even the putrid smell of the city streets.

“Ace?” The familiar voice startled him out of his momentary fugue, causing him to jump. “What are you doing in this part of town so late at night?”

“M-Marco!” Ace yanked his hand away from the dilapidated, unmarked door he’d been about to open and turned towards Marco. “N-nothing! I was just… you know… out for a walk?”

“It would be a bit more believable if you told me instead of asked, yoi.” Marco smiled warmly at the now blushing Ace, though it did not quite reach his eyes. He grabbed Ace’s shoulder and turned him firmly away from the dreaded door.

“But-Marco… I have to—” Though he protested, Ace let himself be lead away with no resistance.

“Not anymore, you don’t. Now you’re coming with me to get a cup of coffee, before I take you home.” Ace gave in easily, relief washing through him at the interruption. But now they might come for Luffy. He stopped in the middle of the street, slipping his wrist out of Marco’s grasp.

“I can’t, Marco, I have to go. You don’t understand, if I don’t Luffy will—” He cut off as soon as Marco raised a hand.

“Do you trust me, yoi?” Ace blinked at the unexpected question, then nodded slowly. He’d not known Marco very long, having just met him a few weeks ago, but Ace couldn’t deny he’d felt at ease with Marco instantly. Sure, he was clearly neck deep in some sort of illegal activity, but he and Luffy weren’t exactly innocent of that either. He knew Marco had a strong sense of honor, and that was far more important in terms of trust.

“Then you’re going to come with me, drink some damn coffee, and tell me why you were about to enter one of Blackbeard’s most infamous brothels.” He took advantage of Ace’s shock at both his knowledge and Marco’s rare show of emotion and dragged him down the street towards a dingy 24 hour diner down the street.

After a bleary-eyed woman brought them their coffee, Marco took a sip and grimaced at the tepid, bitter brew. He looked up at Ace expectantly, but Ace found himself at a loss for words. How was he supposed to tell Marco, whom he admired so much, that he had been planning to sell himself to ensure his brother’s freedom? He didn’t have time for this. He should be heading home to pack up. They’d definitely have to skip town, though even that might not be enough to keep them safe. Marco sighed at his sudden return of nerves.

“Whatever it is, I promise you it will be okay.” When Ace still didn’t respond, his thoughts still swirling madly, Marco smiled fondly at him and continued. “How about I guess? It’s pretty common for that scumbag to scam people into debt and then force them to work for him. Was that what happened to you?”

“Pretty much.” Ace stared down at the table, not wanting Marco to see the shame in his eyes. “He wanted Luffy instead of me, though. I wouldn’t let him. God, we were so stupid to trust that man.”

A warm hand cupped his cheek, forcing him to meet the other man’s eyes. Instead of the ridicule he expected to read there, he saw only something warm but undefinable. Ace found he couldn’t pull his gaze from Marco’s, and the moment stretched until the waitress slammed sugar and artificial creamer on the table. Marco snapped back his hand, leaving Ace vaguely unsettled at the loss of contact.

Marco cleared his throat. “It’s not your fault. That bastard doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants. Even if you’d gone through with it, he’d still come after your brother. He has no honor.” Ace raised his eyebrows at the vehemence in Marco’s tone. He’d never seen him drop the calm facade he showed the world before today. “Anyway, you won’t have to worry about him anymore, yoi. You should have come to me sooner.”

“And what exactly are you going to do about it? He’s one of the most powerful men in the city!” A flicker of something passed over Marco’s eyes, but it was gone before Ace could identify it. Marco pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Hey, Izo, there’s a kid I know that’s entangled with Blackbeard.” Ace couldn’t tell what the man on the other side said, but he was dying to know what could turn the normally imperturbable man to blush like that.

“Yes, that kid.” Marco hissed into the phone, but not quietly enough he couldn’t hear. Something about him had made Marco blush? He stared at Marco with wide eyes.

“I’m with him now.” Marco paused, starting to regain his composure. “Yeah, as much as I’d like to deal with it myself, it’s probably best.” Marco sighed, his free hand clenching on the table. “Okay, then I’ll just walk him home, yoi.” Ace was dying to know whatever was said next, since it turned Marco’s whole face red. A cocky smirk made its way to his face, and, despite everything, he was oddly glad this whole horrible series of events happened. Marco sputtered a goodbye and hurriedly hung up.

“That’s it?” Ace couldn’t believe it was that easy.

“It helps to be Whitebeard’s right hand man in situations like this,” Marco said, without looking up from the table. Ace’s jaw dropped. No wonder it was that easy. Whitebeard was the only man Teach feared. He’d known Marco was probably involved in one of the city’s gangs, but he’d never expected him to be one of the most powerful men in the city.

Marco sighed and threw some bills on the table to pay for their mostly untouched coffee, still avoiding Ace’s gaze. Ace thought back to the embarrassed looks when the man on the other side of the phone had talked about him and regained his smirk. He certainly couldn’t let tonight end without getting to the bottom of that. They both stood up and headed for the door, Ace following closely behind Marco.

“Well, I’ll walk you—.” Marco turned back to Ace and stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Ace’s proximity. Ace smirked when Marco’s eyes immediately dropped to his lips before snapping back up. He wrapped one arm around Marco’s neck for balance and leaned in to whisper breathily into his ear.

“Thank you.” Marco shuddered at the feeling of Ace’s lips ever-so-lightly brushing his ear. Ace backed up and immediately started walking towards home, knowing Marco would follow as soon as he’d gathered up his wits. Ace grinned to himself. He’d probably pay for teasing him like that, but as Marco rushed to catch up, he was unrepentant, even as his wrist was grasped tightly, and he was spun back around. Tonight was definitely looking up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For imperialmint on tumblr: Hair/Makeup Stylist and Actor/Model!AU Beta'd by phoenix0725

Ace stared in morbid fascination at the obviously pineapple-inspired hairstyle the blond in front of him was sporting. He wondered what the man - was is Marco?- had done to deserve that. And how he’d managed to leave the house without knowing someone had pranked him.

“... So can you manage to get Ace’s hair to have more of a business feel?” Ace had been ignoring the conversation in favor of examining the bizarre hairstyle of the man his brother was talking to, but  jerked his attention back to what Sabo was saying at that.

“You can’t mean to have him do my hair! He hasn’t even noticed the atrocity that happened to his.” He gestured to the hair stylist, glaring at Sabo. He might nominally be his boss- he was the photographer after all- but he was still his brother. He had no qualms about refusing such a ridiculous request.

Sabo smacked him across the head. “Marco happens to be the most respected hair stylist in the city. If he says his hair is trendy that way then it by no means resembles tropical fruit. We’re lucky to have him agree to this, since we’re independent,” he hissed at Ace, but not so quietly that Marco couldn’t hear. He looked a bit pained.

“Wait, he did it like that on purpose? And you want him to do my hair. We’ll lose what little support we’ve gained!”

“Yes, it’s on purpose! And it is an honor to have him do your hair for this shoot. He only accepts for talented people.

“You obviously think it’s weird too! I never said out loud that it looked like a pineapple, but you clearly said it looked like a tropical fruit.” Ace tried to keep his tone low, but he was still sure the man heard him, though his expression did not change

“Can we just get started, yoi?” Marco said with an even tone. Ace snickered silently, mouthing “yoi” at Sabo behind Marco’s back, earning him another smack.

“Of course! Don’t mind him, he has no eye for these sort of things. We’re still working on his professional attitude.” Sabo tried to make up for their blunder, though Marco didn’t seem too mad about it.

“He sounds exactly like my brothers.” Marco grimaced to himself, the only show of emotion Ace had seen from him so far. “They never let me live this hairstyle down. Don’t worry about it.”

He guided Ace to sit down in a nearby chair and started unpacking his tools. He looked at Ace critically. “A business feel, you said?” He asked Sabo, once more leaving Ace out of the conversation.

“Yeah, if you can manage that with this idiot. We have suit shots to do today.” He left to go set up the studio for the shoot, ignoring the pleading glances Ace sent his way.

Marco met Ace’s eyes for the first time as he picked up his scissors and a comb. There was something in his gaze that made it suddenly hard to breathe. He turned Ace towards the mirror and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“You’re lucky I like you, brat.” Ace shuddered at the feeling of Marco’s breath in his ear, their gazes still locked in the mirror. “Otherwise, this would go much worse for you.” Ace gulped as Marco smirked at him and began to cut.

And that was how Ace became famous for his cutting edge hairstyle that in no way resembled a tomato. The suits sold out within the hour after the photos went viral. Sabo still hadn’t stopped laughing.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Chess (inviting-nonsenseworld) on tumblr. Prompt was met in detention. Hope you enjoy!

Smoker took the school’s rule book from him and casually tossed into the trash as they walked down the hallway. “You won’t be needing that shit. No one follows it anyway. Just don’t kill the brats, and you’ll be fine. Don’t take them lightly. We’re short three teachers today because they’re all in the hospital.” Smoker halted abruptly and looked Marco over, lighting up another cigar to add to the one already in his mouth. In the middle of a high school hallway. “You look like you can take care of yourself.” What the hell kind of high school was this? Marco was feeling less and less sure he should have taken this job.

“Yes, I practice judo and aikido regularly, yoi.” Marco managed, seeing as how some response seemed to be expected. Smoker grunted and resumed his headlong march through the halls.

“Well, maybe you’ll last longer than the last substitute teacher. He was out within a week and refused to come back.” Smoker grimaced. “Garp doesn’t really help things. He scares away all the interviewees.” Marco smiled weakly, remembering his terrifying interview with the old principal. The bell rang, causing Marco to jump. Smoker sighed in irritation, as students began pouring out into the halls

“Anyway, I know I’m supposed to show you around and all that shit, but I have to go make sure no one blows up the make-up chem lab. At least Portagas is in detention for blowing up the first try at this lab.” Smoker halted outside one of the now empty classrooms. “Anyway, can you take detention today? I think he’s the only one, so you might be able to manage. The kid’s hopeless, but if you can handle him by yourself for an hour, you’ll do just fine here.”

“I’m sure can handle that, yoi.” Marco was a bit irritated the other man seemed so skeptical. This wasn’t his first job, after all, and even if this was a school for problem children, how much trouble could one student give him? Smoker looked at him dubiously, then sighed.

“There’s really no choice. Trial by fire, I guess. Kid has to be here by 4:00 and detention gets out at 5:00. Someone should be ready to give you a tour by then. ” Smoker handed him a couple cigars. “Here, you’re probably going to need these.” With that, he was gone, leaving Marco to open the door and wait for his new charge.

oOo

 

It was ten minutes past four, when Marco decided Smoker had taken him to the wrong classroom. Just as he was about to get up from leaning against the front desk and go in search of someone who could tell him where he was supposed to go, a student strolled through the door. At least Marco supposed he was a student. He had the uniform on at any rate, though his shorts rode far too low despite two non regulation belts, and his shirt was completely undone.

Marco was beginning to wonder if that was dresscode, since Smoker had done the same. He certainly wouldn’t complain if it was. Dress shirts were so constricting, and the view wasn’t bad either. Marco immediately halted that train of thought. He was old enough to be this boy’s father, even if he weren’t his teacher. Still his eyes lingered long enough for the kid to notice.

 

“What the fuck are you looking at?” The brat practically spat out the question, then seemed to notice he was not who he was expecting. “Actually, who the hell are you? What happened to Ol’ Smokey?”

“I believe he’s overseeing the make-up chemistry lab. My name is Marco. I’m the new substitute teacher.” He held out his hand to the hostile brat, ignoring the way he bristled and then his confusion at the gesture. Surely in a school that didn’t require you button up your shirt, he could get away with having the kids call him by his first name? “I was wondering if it was common to leave your shirt unbuttoned here.”

“What, do you have a problem with the way I dress?” Marco wondered the last time an authority figure had bothered to have a pleasant conversation with the boy.

“No, yoi. Actually, I was wondering because it looks far more comfortable. I hate these shirts.” The brat finally took his hand and shook it, looking vaguely bewildered.

“Portagas D. Ace.” Ace withdrew his hand slowly. “Aren’t you nervous at being with me? The last new teacher nearly wet himself when he first oversaw my detention.” He had lost the hostile tone and now just seemed curious. Marco smiled inwardly. Whatever Smoker thought, there was a good kid in there still.

“If I couldn’t handle a brat like you, I’d quit on the spot, yoi.” Ace smirked cockily at him, making Marco’s stomach flip.

“Oh~?” If he hadn’t been trained he never would have seen the attack coming, but before either of them really registered what had happened Marco had Ace firmly pinned against the desk, his thighs trapped between Marco’s, wrist trapped in one hand above Ace’s head, with Marco’s other hand pinned in between their bodies resting on Ace’s bare abs Marco immediately withdrew from the compromising position, fighting to keep a blush from his cheeks, and let Ace up.

“Not bad, for an old man,” Ace said, his smirk never wavering, despite his obvious defeat, “We should spar sometime.” As he looked down on Ace splayed on the teacher’s desk, Marco started regretting taking this job for all sorts of new reasons. He picked up the cigars from the desk and began idly rolling them between his hands. Somehow he doubted Smoker had meant this when he said he’d need them.

Ace’s eyes fell on the the cigars, and he grinned widely. He reached into his shorts, causing them to slip a little further, and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it open and leaned toward Marco.

“Need a light?”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for anon on tumblr, who ended up getting the College!au.

Marco sighed as yet another student gave him a weird look and moved past him to sit on a different row. He didn't know how he let Pops convince him to finally go to get a degree. Sure, he’d always kind of wanted to get a proper business degree, but he could learn this stuff on his own. Besides the looks all of the kids gave him made him feel old. No one had sat anywhere near him, even though Marco was in the front row.

Thatch would mock him for sure for caring what a bunch of kids thought. Marco grimaced. He knew it shouldn't bother him, but he couldn't help it.Still he got out his supplies,  as the professor walked into the classroom. Marco wouldn't let some judgemental kids get in the way of his learning.

A few minutes before the class was due to start, a kid rushed up to the empty row beside Marco. He grinned at Marco and sat down next to him.

"Hey, it's okay if I sit here, right?" Marco nodded slowly, a bit stunned by the sudden companionship. His eyes traveled briefly over the tousled black hair, piercing gray eyes, and chiseled form. And were those freckles? "Cool. It's weird the front row is so empty today, but lucky for us I guess. " His grin widened and Marco felt himself return it. "My name is Ace, by the way." He reached out a hand.

“Marco.” Marco grabbed the offered hand and shook it, ignoring the spark he felt at the contact. Attractive or not, Ace was a kid, and Marco had never felt more conscious of his age. Besides how likely was it that he’d be into guys?

“I think I’ve scared them all off,” Marco said dryly, as they let go. Ace looked him up and down leisurely, making Marco fight the urge to squirm.

“You don’t look the least bit scary. In fact, I’m surprised you aren't surrounded by girls.” Marco snorted.

“Just as well they’re all avoiding me then.” Ace raised a brow at that, then smiled to himself. Marco was regretting his earlier annoyance. Whatever had lead to the only empty seats near the front being near him, he was thankful for since it had lead to Ace sitting next to him.

Ace tilted his head still examining him, then smirked cockily. “Perhaps they’re just worried whatever happened to your hair is contagious.” He nudged Marco playfully with his shoulder. He snickered at the offended look on Marco’s face.

“Don’t get all ruffled, old man. I like your hair.” Ace paused a beat then added, “Pineapple is my favorite fruit.” Marco swatted the back of his head, though he wasn’t truly annoyed. Somehow, even though he’d been feeling self conscious about his age just a moment before, he didn’t really mind Ace’s comment.  

“Mind your manners, brat.”

Ace put a hand on Marco’s shoulder. “Seriously though, their loss. You seem pretty cool.” He grinned cheekily. “Maybe you can always scare them off, and you won’t have to worry about saving my seat next time.”

“Next time?” Marco felt a rush when he got Ace to blush. The inner voice reminding him that Ace was still a kid, had long ago been silenced, and he wasn’t sure he missed it.

“Well--we could... that is-- I mean, if you want--” Before Ace had recovered, the professor cleared his throat and the class quieted down. As he began introducing himself, Marco playfully nudged Ace with his shoulder and smiled gently, trying to convey he was only teasing. Ace’s eyes widened a bit, before he faked an exaggerated pout, crossing his arms and turning away from Marco.

Marco laughed inwardly at his display. He ripped a sheet of paper out of his notebook as quietly as possible, and started writing.

Sorry, but you’re just too cute when you’re flustered.

Marco hastily scratched that out, cursing mentally at himself.

Sorry, I’d like you to sit next to me next time. I’ll save you a seat, regardless of whether or not they’re all still creeped out by me. Besides, you deserve it for the comment about my hair.

Ace relented from his feigned indignation to see what Marco had written. He scowled at it briefly before smiling delightedly, swiping Marco’s pen from the far side of their table, his shoulder sliding across Marco’s chest. He almost hit his head on Marco’s chin on the way back, but Marco’s reflexes were good enough that Ace’s hair just brushed against his throat and chin. Marco could now attest that he smelled even better than he looked, which wasn’t helping his ability to pay attention to the syllabus at all.

Ace smiled at him sheepishly, then began scribbling a reply.

You deserve all hair comments, since you wear your hair like that on purpose. You should do a better job scratching out if you don’t want something to still be legible. I’ll forgive you if you take me out for coffee after this lecture is over. I have a feeling we’ll need the caffeine anyway with this professor

Marco watched perplexedly as Ace scribbled out most of the note he’d just written before handing it over. He read it quickly then looked up in shock. Ace just winked and smirked at his stupefaction. Marco relax and returned the smirk then checked the clock. Still forty minutes to go. He groaned quietly making Ace, who noticed the direction of his gaze, laugh softly at his impatience.This was going to be a long class.   

  
  
  



	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for dragonsnightmare on tumblr. It was the penpal prompt. I hope you enjoy!

Hi Marco,

 

You might not hear from me for awhile. Just thought I should let you know. Don’t worry, I’ll sort everything out ~~eventually~~ soon. Your letters ~~are the only thing I look forward to~~ mean a lot to me, but you shouldn’t reply to this until you hear from me. With everything else, I’ll be moving, so I wouldn’t get them anyway.

 

 ~~Love~~ Your friend,

Ace

 

Marco sighed as he finished reading the letter for maybe the thousandth time since he’d gotten it two months ago. It had arrived already wrinkled and smudged and had what Marco hoped both were and were not tear stains, depending on his mood. By this point, it was a wonder he could still make out the words. Marco had tried all of the tricks he found on the internet to figure out what was scratched out but to no avail.

He was pretty sure Ace had almost signed it with love, but that was all he got. Even that could just be wishful thinking. He took off his reading glasses, trying to focus on the news and put such thoughts aside. It didn’t really help, since he had the letter memorized.

His family was starting to get worried about him. Thatch had told him the other day that he needed to get over Ace. After all, they’d never even met. He didn’t even know what Ace looked like, since they’d never gotten around to exchanging pictures. Marco smiled wistfully, remembering how mad he’d been at Izo when he’d signed Marco up for a random penpal. Now two years later, he was pining away for a man he’d never met, whom he had no way of contacting, or even knowing for sure if he was alright. The letter sure didn’t sound like everything was alright.

Ace wasn’t too good at hiding his feelings, even through letters, so Marco had been certain he’d returned his feelings. Marco had been just about to insist that they meet each other when the final letter had arrived.  

Marco huffed at his morse thoughts and threw the letter into the drawer where he kept all of Ace’s letters, slamming it shut. It was too late to dwell on such things. He should just go to bed.

He’d just pulled off his shirt when the doorbell rang. Marco sighed in irritation. At this hour it had to be Thatch.

“Why can’t that idiot ever make it to his house when he’s drunk? Mine is no closer...” Marco muttered to himself as he made his way to the door, not bothering to put on a shirt. He opened the door without looking.

“Damn it, Thatch! Go home when--” Marco cut off abruptly at the realization that young man on his doorstep was most definitely not Thatch. Disheveled black hair framed his freckled face, and piercing grey eyes stared at Marco warily. The black T-shirt he was wearing hugged his torso tightly, allowing Marco to clearly see his well defined abs. Despite Marco’s earlier depression he couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was.

“Um... Sorry to bother you so late, but is Marco here?” The man shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, biting his lower lip. He adjusted the backpack slung over one shoulder, as he examined Marco curiously.

“I’m Marco, yoi. Can I help you?” The man’s eyes widened, and he stood completely still for first time since Marco opened the door.

“M-Marco?” He dropped his backpack to the ground as he reached towards Marco then obviously thought better of the gesture. “It’s Ace... I’m so sorr--”

Before he could finish the apology, Marco grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into his arms cutting off his exclamation of surprise by pressing their lips firmly together. He shouldn’t he knew, since he didn’t know Ace’s feelings, but he couldn’t help himself. Ace was here.

His vague concerns were completely banished when Ace simply melted into him like all the tension of whatever had kept him busy these two months was completely gone and his eyes fluttered closed. Marco couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes just yet, wanting to burn the image of Ace into his mind.  

Ace wrapped an arm around Marco’s neck, and slid his other hand teasingly down Marco’s bare chest. Marco gasped as Ace passed lightly over his nipple, letting Ace slip his tongue into his mouth. Marco bite it lightly, making Ace groan, before returning the gesture. The kiss deepened, both of them completely forgetting they were on his front stoop for anyone to see.

Marco let his hands wander down Ace’s back, coming to rest on his hips, as their tongues continued to caresses each other. He pulled Ace tightly against him, relishing in the contact he’d been longing for for well over a year. Ace seemed to feel the same way, both hands clutched tightly in Marco’ hair.

Eventually, they had to part for air. Marco rested his head in the crook of Ace’s neck, content to just breath in his scent. They panted heavily as a comfortable silence fell over them.

When he had caught his breath, Ace said “We should probably go inside. The neighbors...” He slowly untangled himself from Marco and picked up his bag. “That is if you want me to. I could go. I don’t want to bother you or anything.”

Marco chuckled, feeling more relaxed than he had in months and grabbed Ace’s wrist, dragging him inside before closing and locking the door.

“After that you still think I’m going to let you out of my sight? Especially, since you disappeared for months. Do you have any idea how worried I was?” He guided Ace to the couch and sat next to him, keeping his light hold on to Ace’s wrist. He’d be happy if he never had to let go.

“I’m really sorry about that.” Ace grinned at him sheepishly, then yawned.

“You can tell me about it in the morning, yoi.” Macro smiled at him, unable to keep a grin from his face at Ace’s sleepy expression. “For now, let’s just go to bed.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anon on tumblr. MarcoAce Vampire Au

The incessant pounding of the music, the blinding lights, and the smell of alcohol and hundreds of sweaty people battered Ace’s senses. He hated clubs. Still, they were one of the best places to find prey, so they were a necessary evil. He really didn’t understand the people who went there willingly.

Ace never went to the same club twice in a year, so he moved often, trying to keep a low profile. It wouldn’t do to have his presence be more than rumors after all. This particular club was special, though, so he had been scoping out this one for two weeks. Ace had a specific target in mind this, and he was determined to do this right.  

His target moved through the crowd with ease, heading toward the back door. It was easy to pick him out of the crowd, since the man was tall enough to ensure his unique hairstyle stuck up well above the crowd. This was it.

Ace skillfully wound his way through the mass of people in a circuitous route, trying not to be obvious about following him. No one would notice in the press of people, but it never paid to let down your guard.

The door shut behind him, providing blissful relief from the relentless pounding, as he slid into the alleyway. The blond was leaning against the brick wall with his back to the entrance, checking his phone. He didn’t even look up at the door slamming shut. Ace smirked. This would be almost too easy.

He pulled out his stake as silently as possible and crept toward the monster. Just as he was about to strike, the vampire spun around with inhuman speed, kicking him in the gut. Ace doubled over and backed away, trying to buy time to catch his breath, but the monster was too fast for him and landed another blow, this time to his jaw.

Still, all of his vampire fighting training wasn’t for nothing. Ace might not be able to match their strength or speed but that didn’t mean he was helpless. He threw a vial of holy water at the beast. Most of it missed, but enough landed on the vampire’s arm to make him hiss and recoil. Ace used the window of time to knock the vampire to the ground, aiming for his heart with the stake.

Instead of the stake piercing his heart, however, it glanced off the ground. Before Ace could process what had happened, he found himself pinned by the monster now sitting on his lower body, both hands captured above his head. Before he could think to scream (not that anyone could help him), a hand was firmly clapped over his mouth.

“Well, well, what have we here? So young to be a hunter, yoi.” Ace shivered instinctively as the blond leisurely licked up his neck. Ace tensed, but the expected bite didn’t come. The vampire sat up slightly and looked down into Ace’s eyes. The blue eyes staring down at him were mesmerizing, and Ace felt the rest of him relaxing against his will, though he managed to maintain his glare.

He chuckled darkly at Ace’s expression. “Oh, feisty, aren’t we?” The vampire looked around the empty alley.

“I take it you know how pointless it would be to scream right now, yes?”

Ace nodded reluctantly. The vampire smiled down at him, fangs glinting in the dim light, and removed the hand from his mouth. “Good, yoi. Let’s be polite, then, shall we? I’m Marco.”

When Ace just spat at him in reply, the vampire dodged neatly, his grip on Ace not wavering in the slightest, but instead of hitting him, Marco  just laughed. Ace was puzzled. This was not normal vampire behavior.

“You are decades too young to take me on, brat. You might be good enough at kill small fry, but to think you could take on our family, much less me, was pure hubris. Now, your name yoi.”   

Ace sighed. So the crazy vampire wanted to talk? Fine. There was no reason not to tell him. It might even prolong his death long enough for him to make an escape. “Ace.”

“Well met, Ace. Pops is expecting us, so we should be on our way, yoi. ” Marco sat up pulling Ace with him, his eyes leisurely traveling Ace’s body. He sighed. “Such a pity we have to rush.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Phoenix0725, who requested Marco/Ace and going through a divorce. Try not to leave such obvious loop holes next time :P

“Thanks, Robin.” Marco smiled at his lawyer across the table as she gathered up the papers laid out in front of them.

 

“Think nothing of it. I’m not sure I’ve ever handled such a easy divorce.”

 

“Well, it’s mutual, and it’s not like we don’t love each other. Just not like before. We need different things now.” Robin smiled at him, and Marco was glad to see there was no pity in her eyes. The decision had been a hard one, hard for both Shanks and him, but neither were happy, and they needed to set each other free.

 

Now that they’d decided Marco just felt a tinge of sadness that they’d lost the spark they’d had ten years ago and relief. He wished Shanks well, and he was sure they’d always be a part of each other’s lives, but now they were free. Robin just had to file the papers, and in a month, maybe two, he’d once again be single.

 

Marco had to admit that he was not looking forward to that. It was nice to have someone to come home to, nice to have someone to share the day to day with, nice to always have someone warm in bed. That had been part of their problem though- Shanks wasn’t one to stay home when there was fun to be had, and while Marco did enjoy parties and going out, he also liked time spent quietly at home together.

 

“I’ll be going then, and everything will be taken care of in a few weeks. I trust you’ve settled into your new apartment?” Marco nodded and forced himself to smiled. Robin stared at him for a few moments, and Marco had to fight down the urge to shift under her scrutiny. When she smiled, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

 

“You look like you could use a drink. Unfortunately, I have to go, but I happen to know one of the bartenders here, and he’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” Before Marco could protest, he found himself seated at the bar of the restaurant they’d met at with Robin already waving someone over.

 

“Ace, this is Marco. He could use a drink... scotch, I think.” The bartender- Ace, Marco supposed- nodded and grinned at Marco. Marco glared at Robin. Not only did she somehow know his prefered beverage, but Ace was ridiculously hot and quite obviously too young for him. She left with a smile, nodding at Ace on her way out.

 

It was a Tuesday evening, and there were hardly any people in the restaurant, and he was the only one at the bar. Ace turned to get his drink, setting it in front of him with a smile before going to prepare a vivid blue drink for someone sitting at a table. Marco toyed with his scotch- he didn’t really feel like getting wasted somehow even if that was traditional.

 

He smiled sadly to himself. There was no doubt that Shanks was drunk somewhere. He raised his glass in a silent toast to him and tossed back half the drink. Ace clearly had nothing else to do at the moment and was hovering out of easy walking distance, looking very unsure of whether he was supposed to come chat or not. Marco smiled at him, and he grinned in return, coming to lean on the bar directly in front of Marco.

 

“Robin almost never buys her clients a drink. Are you okay?” Ace looked at him with concern, gaze drifting to the white mark around his finger, showing where his ring use to be.

 

“I’ll be okay,” Marco said, and this time he really believed it.

 

“That says nothing about now.” Ace huffed and crossed his arms. “Fine, want another scotch?” Marco nodded holding out his glass.

 

Ace poured with an excessive amount of flair, and Marco smiled at his little show. Ace flushed. “They make us you know,” he whispered, and Marco laughed at his put on expression.

 

“Is it always this slow?”

 

“On weekdays, yeah,” Ace said mournfully. “I normally only work weekends because of school, but I wanted the distraction. Not that this was much of one before you came along.”

 

“Distraction from what?” Marco found himself leaning forward on the bar, and he forced himself to settle back in the bar stool.

 

Ace glared. “Nuh-uh, we’re talking about your problems not mine.”

 

After taking another sip of his scotch, Marco hummed. “I’ll tell you only if you tell me first.” Ace let out an exaggerated sigh. “It might help to talk about it, and it’s sometimes easier with a stranger.”

 

“I broke up with my... whatever-we-were this weekend actually. It’s been coming for a while, so it’s not like I was surprised, but yeah. He’s been pining for one of our friends for forever, and he needed the push.” Marco’s eyes widened.  “Now, I have to put up with them dancing around each other instead of just fucking and getting it over with.”

 

Ace visibly shook himself out of contemplating that. “So what’s your deal?”

 

“We just fell out of love, I suppose.” Marco sighed and fiddled with his glass, and Ace picked up a cloth and began wiping everything down for which Marco was grateful. It was hard with those eyes focusing on him.“We wanted different things, and we weren’t happy.”

 

“That’s got to be hard. How long? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to , of course.”

 

“No, it’s fine. It would have been ten years next month.” Ace’s eyes widened, and he reached out like he was going to take Marco’s arm, but he stopped before he did. Marco wasn’t sure if he was glad or not, and that in and of itself surprised him.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Like I said, I’ll be okay.” They didn’t break the silence for a while as Ace worked on closing down the bar.

 

Finally, Ace broke the silence. “Ummm... this is kind of strange, but do you want to come to movie night at my house on Friday? My brothers and I host it every week for all our friends- Robin comes too- and it would kind of nice to have someone there who won’t be staring between me and Zoro and Sanji with pity.” Ace looked up quickly, and Marco fought down a smile. “Not, like a date or anything, just hanging out.”

  
Marco thought he was right it was weird, but he needed not to mope, and maybe it would be good to meet some new people. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.” Ace’s grin chased away any last lingering doubt he’d had, and Marco finished his scotch with a smile. It was good to have something to look forward to.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For lollesblog/Smally/Lolle because any reply I write to your absolutely fantastic, amazing review/comment sounds so incredibly lame in comparison the wonder that is said comment. Hopefully, this will make up for the impending lame response (which will be tomorrow probably, sorry) . Also because this got in my head from reading your comment, and I liked it. I know I have an actual request for you waiting in my inbox (one day I will get to it, I promise), but hopefully you like this!

Marco stared numbly at the steps to his front door. Only one short flight of stairs, and he could finally relax, sit down, maybe even get something to eat. He honestly couldn’t remember if he’d eaten since he left (if he had, he was sure it had been awful), and really, he wasn’t hungry ,but he felt he should be after... twelve hours? The thought of food seemed like far too much of a bother though, especially when he couldn’t even make it up the stairs.

 

He groaned, the line of steps looking almost infinite as he stood there. The front door opened suddenly, making Marco jump, and Ace peered down at him curiously.

Marco opened his mouth to try to explain that the stairs were neverending, but Ace seemed to understand in a glance. He flew down the stairs in a way that Marco really ought to scold him for, but he remembered to slow down before he bowled them both over, so he could let it slide just this once. Ace wrapped his arms around Marco, and Marco was finally home, stairs or no.

They stayed there like that for what felt like an eternity and yet no time at all, and Marco breathed in the scent of his hair, letting it wash over him.

“Hard day?” Ace asked, and Marco just groaned. “C’mon, let’s get you up the stairs.” When Ace pulled him up, the stairs miraculously shortened, and they made it to the top in no time at all. Ace tugged him into the house and pushed him into his favorite chair wordlessly, a grin in his eyes at Marco’s lack of protest. Marco frowned as he left the living room.

He came back with a sandwich and water, tucking a blanket around Marco before settling next to him, fingers tracing soothing patterns on Marco’s leg as he tucked himself snuggly into Marco’s side.Ace returned his grateful smile properly this time, and Marco finally understood the meaning of the phrase sight for sore eyes.

“Hi,” he said, and Ace’s grin grew as he took Marco’s hand and interwove their fingers.

“Hi.” Ace pecked him on the cheek, then tried his best to appear stern, pointing at the sandwich with what Marco supposed he thought was a glare. Marco chuckled at the expression, and Ace just sighed exaggeratedly, pouting just enough to make Marco dutifully bite into the sandwich. Marco looked down at the sandwich in surprise. He was starving, and he didn’t know how he’d managed to miss that fact for so long.

When he’d swallowed, Marco said, “Tell me about your day.” Ace looked surprised at first, but he lit up when Marco began scarfing the sandwich, a proud look on his face. He began chattering away about work and his brother’s latest misadventures, and Marco listened more to the timbre of his voice than the words, but he knew Ace understood.

He finished the sandwich and picked up the water glass without prompting, drinking it down. Ace started to get up to fetch him another glass, but Marco caught his hand before he could.

“Marco, you need water. I bet you’ve not drank any today again.”

“I need you more,” Marco said, and Ace’s not-as-stern-as-he-probably-hoped gaze softened. He sighed, smiling, and allowed Marco to pull him onto his lap, moving to straddle him easily. Marco tightened his arms around Ace until there was no space between them whatsoever, contentment flowing through him in waves as his listened to Ace’s steady breathing.

He felt Ace’s lips curve up into a smiled where they pressed against his neck. “I missed you too.” Marco huffed out a breath into Ace’s hair  at the ticklish sensation of Ace’s lips brushing against sensitive skin and tightened his hold.

They sat there, simply soaking each other in, and Marco found himself beginning to drift off slowly. Ace poked him in the stomach, and Marco made a muffled squawk.

“None of that. You need a real bed to sleep in. Bath, shower, or sleep?” Ace said, sitting up as much as he could without shaking off Marco’s hold. Marco hummed in thought, releasing Ace reluctantly. Bed sounded awfully tempting but..

“I think we both need a bath. Together”  Ace laughed and stood up, pulling Marco to his feet as well in one smooth move.

“Okay, but first, you’re drinking another glass of water.” Marco smiled as Ace led him off to the kitchen. Another glass of water was a small price to pay.

  
  



	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written for anon on tumblr, who requested marco/ace dysfunctional relationship. I'm not sure it quite suits the prompt anymore? It was supposed to...

The shrill tone of Marco’s phone rang out, startling him and shattering the silence that had filed his apartment. He set down the book he was reading almost gratefully and got up to get his phone from where it was charging in his office. While he did enjoy quiet, there was such a thing as too quiet, especially coming from such a large family. He really ought to put the news on after this.

By the time he’d gotten to it, it had stopped. Marco frowned and checked his missed calls, heart in his throat when he saw it had been Ace who called him. If it had been anyone else, Marco would have just shrugged and gone back to his book since if it were important, any reasonable person would leave a message, but Ace refused to leave messages ever for some indecipherable reason.

Besides, he rarely called Marco, so it was likely to be important. Marco shoved down the voice in his head that whispered he’d take any excuse to talk to Ace and called him, holding his breath as he waited for Ace to pick up. Finally the phone clicked.

“Hey, Marco, sorry about that. It was just a misdial.” Ace’s voice was almost even, but Marco could hear the shakiness underlying it, and he went to grab his keys without thinking.

“Ace,” Marco said as he went to grab his jacket. “What’s wrong?” A sob from the other side pieced Marco’s chest, but he stamped down his demands. There would be time for that later.

“I shouldn’t have called you- I’m sorry- it’s nothing, Marco.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll be there in ten unless there’s anything you want me to pick up?”

“Please, you don’t have to, Marco.” Ace sniffed again, and Marco fought down the urge to hit something. “It’s your only day off.. I’ll call, um...”

“I’ll be right there, Ace.”

 

* * *

 

The drive there was probably the longest ten minutes of Marco’s life. Though he had an inkling of what (or rather who) was the cause of Ace’s distress, the memory of Ace barely holding himself together tore through him, and he needed to be there now. Luckily, Ace didn’t live far, for all that they almost never saw each other outside of family events, and Marco pulled up in front of his building in almost no time at all despite what it felt like.

He opened the door with key Ace had casually give him a couple years ago that he’d never gotten to use before, smiling ruefully at the memory of how hard it had been to casually accept. Ace was on the couch, staring anxiously at the door, looking unsure whether he should rise to greet his guest or not. His eyes were red and puffy, and there was a pile of used tissues on the table in front of him.

Marco kicked off his shoes and crossed the living room quickly. For once, he didn’t listen to the smarter part of himself, and he just sat on the couch and pulled Ace into a hug, all but pulling him into his lap. Ace tensed up at first, but he relaxed into Marco’s hold, tucking his head into Marco’s shoulder. Marco brushed a hand through his hair soothingly, enjoying the silky texture against his skin more than he ought.

“Sanji and I decided we needed to break up.” The revelation was quiet, and Marco felt guilt crushing him for the instant elation he felt at the simple statement. He would have to choose his words with care.

“I’m sorry,” Marco said, and Ace laughed at that.

“No, you’re not.” Marco’s hand froze, and he looked down at the back of Ace’s head questioningly. “You never liked him.”

“I have nothing against him, but... he was in love with someone else. I didn’t want that for you, to just be used to forget about someone. But I am sorry. I’d never want you to be hurting like this.”

“Well, it’s not like he was the only one in love with someone else.” Marco knew Ace must be able to feel his tension, but he couldn’t help himself. Ace was in love with someone besides Sanji? Ace tightened his grip Marco, and Marco let himself cling back.“We knew we were just using each other from the start, and it was nice, but we both need to stop hiding.”

“Ace...” Marco stopped. He didn’t know if he could talk calmly about someone who was too idiotic to love Ace back.

Ace looked up at him, eyes wide like he hadn’t meant to say so much. “Can we talk about that part some other time? I’m really not ready for that today.”

Happiness that Ace would come back to him with this warred with despair, twisting up inside him.  He really was too old to get nauseous about such ridiculous things. Marco smiled though and tousled Ace’s hair, chuckling at the glare he received. “Of course.”

Marco reluctantly disentangled himself from Ace, who’d somehow ended up all the way in his lap (he wasn’t going to think about how that happened), and pulled the DVD he’d stopped to grab before he’d left home from his jacket, holding it up to Ace.

Ace grinned at the sight, and Marco’s stomach flipped. “Want to watch Will Smith kick alien ass?”

“You brought Independence Day? I can’t believe you remembered! We were going to watch this like a year ago, and I skipped out on you.” Ace practically pounced on the remote, flipping on the TV and opening the DVD player for Marco. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“Things happen, brat.”

When the opening credits were rolling, Ace leaned over and rested his head on Marco’s shoulder. Marco managed to keep from jumping but only just. He felt the strangest urge to hold his breath, but he squashed it. Ace wouldn’t leave just because he breathed. Probably.

“Hey, Marco?” Marco hummed.

“You’re the one I- I’m glad I called you.” Marco looked down at the sudden change of phrasing, and he was shocked to find Ace was blushing. He hastily shoved aside speculation, knowing that would lead nowhere good, and casually brought Ace snug against his side with one arm, letting it stay resting across his shoulders. He let out a breath when Ace just relaxed into him.

“Me too.”

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Lolle, who asked for sitting on a park bench. It was contaminated by my need for finals to be done already. I hope you enjoy! And don't eat food random people give you unless they're Marco!

Marco barely looked up from his paper when someone sat next to him. It was a large bench, and the park was busy this time of day. It wasn’t in the least abnormal for someone to join him when he sat here on his lunch break on nice days. It was a beautiful spring day, one of the first to be truly warm, and what felt like the whole city had come out to show their appreciation for the end of winter.

It wasn’t until he finished the paper that he gave the person another glance, and a wave of nostalgia crashed over him. It was that time of year, wasn’t it. He didn’t know the man next to him, but he’d recognize the signs of someone in the midst of finals anywhere. The man looked like he’d not slept in weeks, dark circles under his eyes marking his lack of sleep, and his hair was every which way like he’d run his hands through it so many times and forgotten to comb it.

Marco smiled at the expression on his face. His eyes were closed, seeming to revel in the sunlight with a focus so intense Marco felt himself caught in the flow, feeling the sun’s rays caress his skin. Marco looked over the ratty backpack the man held clasped to his chest and remembered all of the days that he’d studied for finals subsisting solely on coffee and ramen.

He got up from the bench quietly, careful not to disturb the man next to him, and left his paper on his seat, hoping that would save it for a few minutes. He walked briskly to the cafe right outside the park, glad that it was long past the lunch rest since he’d only managed to leave the office around two because of all his meetings. He ordered soup and a sandwich, hoping the man would like at least one of the two and two extra large coffees. He loaded cream and sugar into one and made his way back to his favorite bench.

When he saw the man hadn’t left, Marco’s heart leapt more than was probably a good thing, but there was no going back now. He sat back down and suddenly had no idea what to say. What the hell had he been thinking? Who took food from a stranger in a par? The man wasn’t desperate: he looked more than healthy underneath the exhaustion. The man’s eyes opened, and he looked straight at Marco, his wide smile catching him off guard.

“You came back,” he said, and Marco blinked.

“Yeah, I just went to get you coffee and lunch because I remember what finals were like, which was utterly idiotic that was since who would take lunch from a stranger?- and now I’m trying to figure out what’s the least awkward.”

The man’s eyes widened, but to Marco’s surprise he laughed instead of edging away. He hummed, looking over Marco carefully, then held out his hand. “I’m Ace.”

Marco reflexively shook Ace’s hand, warmth from his hand lingering along Marco’s palm. “Marco.”

“Nice to meet you, Marco!” Ace said. “I think its nice. In a kind of creepy way, but nice nonetheless. Now, we know each other, so cough up the food.”

Marco stared at him in shock for a moment, then laughed and handed over the bag. “Black or cream and sugar?”

Ace already managed to unwrap the sandwich and have half of it shoved in his mouth. Marco guessed the garbled reply was cream and sugar, though he was going solely on length, and he handed over the cup, smile still on his face. Ace tore through the food in record time, and Marco was impressed. When he’d finished, his smile made the brilliant day pale in comparison. Marco knew he really ought to be going, but he told himself they wouldn’t mind if he was a bit late. He refused to give in and look at his watch.

“Thank you for lunch, Marco.” Ace nodded politely, and Marco found himself a bit taken aback after watching him eat so... heartily.  

“You’re very welcome. It wasn’t too long ago I had finals myself. I never remembered to eat.” Marco took a sip of his coffee and gave in, looking at the time with a grimace. “I should probably get going, but it was nice to meet you.”

“One sec!” Before Marco could refuse, Ace was digging through his bag, and curiosity forced Marco to stay. Ace pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote something down, handing the paper to Marco. Marco’s smile grew when he saw the scrawled phone number. “Next time, lunch is on me, okay? Maybe Friday? I’m free after Thursday.”

“It’s a date,” Marco said, getting up, reluctance tugging at him. If he thought Ace had been radiant when he was enjoying the sun it was nothing on how he looked now, fatigue and stress seemingly melted just like the snow. “If you’d like,” he couldn’t help but add, and Ace brightened further if that were possible.

“I don’t know.” Ace said, and Marco’s stomach sank, a lead weight dragging it to his feet, and he swallowed hard. Ace nudged him with his foot, and Marco looked back up to seeing mischief dancing in Ace’s eyes. “It’s dangerous to go out with strangers.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Imperial Mint and MyLadyDay, who requested a fic with a lion and Ace being cursed to live his life as a hedgehog respectively, and were kind enough to let me combine the two.
> 
> Warnings: mentions of animal cruelty

Ace strolled into the pet shop casually, hands in his pockets. He’d gotten word from Shanks that he should bump this one up his list of places to check out. He was grateful for the tip as soon as he opened the door and the scent of animal cages not cleaned nearly often enough hit him like a freight train. He smiled to himself and began browsing through the store, getting angrier and angrier as he looked at animals in small overcrowded cages, often squabbling from the stress of living in such conditions.

He was going to enjoy shutting this place down.

As he crossed to the front of the shop, where the owner (at least he hoped, so he could see that smug-looking grin crumble) waited at the register, Ace kept a pleasant smile on his face.

“Can I help you, sir?” the man asked. Ace let his smile grow just the slightest.

“I would like to speak to the owner, please.” A distinctive noise rang out from the back, and Ace had a hard time keeping his face neutral at the thought of lemurs being kept in the back in similar (or worse, though he shuddered to think of it) conditions to the poor animals up front. Endangered lemurs.

“That’d be me,” the man said, more proudly than he ought by far. “Marshall D. Teach at your service.” Ace grinned at the man, all teeth, and pulled out his badge.

“I’m an animal control officer, and I’m here to inform you that your shop is being closed and all of the animals you’re abusing will be confiscated. And you’re under arrest for the possession of endangered species. I know a lemur when I hear one.” Teach froze, and Ace had a moment to feel smug before Teach laughed again.

“I don’t think so, brat.”

He began muttering in a low voice, nothing that sounded like English to Ace, and he took a step back automatically, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Then everything went black as searing pain gripped him, Teach’s grating laughter ringing in his ears as he fell to the floor.

 

* * *

 

When he woke, he was hit by a wave of stench so powerful his nose burned with it. He opened his eyes, blinking at the harsh glare.HIs head spun with all the disorienting smells and sounds, and he shuffled into the pine shavings he was laying on.

Wait, pine shavings? He tried to get up and immediately fell back over in a tangly of stubby limbs. Everything was out of focus and blurry, and the light was hammering into his head. Loud footsteps approached, rattling the whole world around him, and Ace squeaked and curled into a ball before he could question the impulse.

A familiar laugh boomed from above him, and Ace uncurled himself, shaking his head to clear it, and hissed at Teach.

“Well, well, my little animal control officer. I don’t suppose you’ll be arresting me in that condition, now will you?” He laughed again, and Ace bristled and growled, but his stomach was sinking as he finally took in his little paws and started putting together why exactly he felt the need to curl up to defend himself. “Yes, you do make a mighty fine hedgehog.”

Ace huffed at him, but Teach just laughed again. “What, you’re upset because they’re illegal to own here? Breaking your own rules just by existing in your current state must be hard.” He laughed again, and Ace gave into his feelings and curled back up.

“Well, now, just be glad you have a cage to yourself. I have other places I could have put you. I’m sure some nice family will come in and pick you out any day now.” He laughed again but mercifully left, and Ace was left to explore his tiny cage. It had a token wire wheel in the corner, and somehow that of all things broke through his shock and brought out the anger.

Everyone knew that hedgehogs needed solid wheels, or they’d break a leg. Apparently, that didn’t matter to Teach in the least, and Ace spared a thought to the other hedgehogs that must surely be around here somewhere. Teach had no respect for the laws of the state of California, and there was no doubt that a man who would sell lemurs would stop at nothing to profit off of poor defenseless animals.

He headed to the water bottle since his mouth felt like desert sand, scoffing in his head that someone would think they were appropriate for a hedgehog but immediately fumbled and got his leg caught in the wire cage. He carefully untangled the limb but he had to the repeat the process seven more times before he reached the bottle a mere foot away.

Drinking from the bottle tool practice, and it was frustratingly slow to give up the water, but Ace was careful nonetheless: he’d seen far too many mistreated hedgehogs who’d gotten their tongue stuck in the bottle and have to be amputated for him to rush, not to mention the chipped teeth. He personally was of the opinion that no one should keep hedgehogs as pets and was glad that it was forbidden here.

There was no food in the cage, but Ace was honestly just as glad. Crossing the cage to get it would be too much effort right now. He curled up in a ball and tried to go to sleep, hoping this would all be a terrible dream, and any moment now, he’d wake up in his bed, Luffy’s snores rattling the house comfortingly from down the hall.   

 

* * *

 

Every time the bell to the pet shop had rung since the incident, Ace flinched. He knew that Marco would be walking through the door soon, and he’d definitely be stupid enough to come without back up, just pretending to nose around. Ace chose to ignore the fact that he’d done the exact same thing and instead listened intently for the familiar voice every time the bell rang.

Teach had tried to sell him numerous times, but even though Ace dreaded it, he knew his best chance was for his partner to drop by and save him, so he made himself as undesirable as possible and watched the door with dread and longing warring in his hear. He’d only worked with Marco for a few weeks- he was new, just started three weeks ago, and Pops- the chief- had put with with their most experienced officer.

They might not have worked together for long, but Ace had no doubt that Marco would look for him. That was just how Marco was. It would take him awhile to find this place- Shanks was exactly an approved source, but eventually he’d ask Luffy, and Luffy would know where to point Marco.

Ace would be impressed if Marco managed to keep Luffy out of it, but he wasn’t sure that was a good thing or not. Somehow, he knew Luffy would be able to find him, and he had no such faith in Marco despite how experienced he was. No one believed in magic, anyway. Ace was having a hard time believing in it, and it had happened to him, the proof in his tiny paw and unsteady nerves.

He was unbelievably restless, but the cage might as well have been full of pit traps for how easy it was to walk on, so he mostly stayed near the frustrating water bottle, ears perking every time someone walked in the door. There was no way he’d be able to recognize anyone by sight currently. His eyes were all but useless, and his nose, while keen, was overwhelmed by the smells in the filthy shop.

There had been three illegal deals in exotic animals and two days had passed when the bell rang again, and he finally heard the voice he’d been anticipating. Like Ace had, Marco first canvassed the shop, and Ace’s heart sank when his eyes passed right over him, barely a blink disturbing Marco’s solemn expression. Underneath the mask of a disinterested customer, Ace could almost smell Marco’s rage at the treatment of animals when he walked by.

Once he’d walked by without giving any notice he’d seen Ace (not that Ace blamed him, he was a hedgehog and probably not even a distinctive one at that), Ace dashed, neatly balancing on the thin wires (and that had taken more practice than he’d liked), to the hole he’d chewed through the plastic bottom of the cage and wiggled out.  

He’d thought of escaping on his own, but there were too many dangers in a city for him to make it anywhere safe, especially when they were all the way across town from Ace’s home or work. Both staying and going had their risks, but Ace thought staying for Marco or Luffy to find him was safer.

He followed the scent of fury to the front of the shop, his heart stuttering in his little chest when he saw Marco casually chatting with Teach. He dashed to Marco foot and grabbed the leg of his jeans in his teeth, trying to yank Marco to the door. They needed to get out of here before Teach noticed something was up with Marco.

Marco looked down at him and bent down so Ace could see him. He was smiling gently, and Ace felt the usual flutter in his chest he got whenever Marco smiled at him. He shoved it down like always and scowled. It was not fair that that didn’t go away when he was a hedgehog. There really ought to be some advantages. Marco scooped him up while Ace was still contemplating the unfairness of it all, forgetting his mission.

He growled when Teach came into view, and the bastard smirked at him. “Thank you for catching him, sir. This one is a bit of a troublemaker, but he’s in need of a good home. I’ll be happy to help you find a cage that he won’t be able to escape from.”

“Of course, I’ll be taking him home. He’s my partner, so I’m well aware of his tendencies of getting in trouble by now. However, I have the feeling that you are far more to blame than he is in this case.” Ace shoved at Marco with his little paws uselessly, trying to get him out while he still had the chance. Marco smiled at him again, a gentle smile like they had all the time in the world, and Ace huffed at him, leaning into the head scratch begrudgingly.

“Oh, is that how it is then? You’re awful stupid to come here if you already know your fate.” Teach laughed, the harsh sound echoing in the small shop. Marco’s heart rate didn’t increase at all, and Ace felt somehow comforted by his smirk and raised brow. Teach began his muttering, and Ace’s heart lept to his throat despite Marco confidence.

Marco began shrinking just as Ace had, but he muttered something as he twisted, and when the bright light cleared, a massive lion, one of the biggest Ace had ever seen, was staring at Teach hungrily. Teach’s eyes widened, and he backed towards the wall, muttering in the strange language frantically, but if possible, the lion just shrugged it off, stalking towards him, growling deep in his chest.

Part of Ace wanted to run away from the predator in front of him, but he squashed the urge firmly, knowing Marco would never hurt him. He watched from the counter as Teach flung himself into the tiny supply closet, barely fitting in, and slammed the door, locking himself in triumphantly. Ace wondered if he remembered the lock was on the outside. Well, he’d realize soon enough, and some time in a too small room seemed all too fitting.

Ace tried to scramble down a precarious pile of what looked like fish tanks to get to the floor, he slipped when jumping, scrabbling at the smooth surface for a foot hold. Marco bounded over, catching him with his nose and carefully lowering himself to the floor.

Ace looked up at Marco, mind spinning frantically with plans of how they could get out of this, but Marco just rubbed his cheek along Ace and winked. A second later the shooting pain spiked through Ace once more, but he’d never welcomed pain more. He stood there blinking at his hands in amazement for less than a second before he was all but tackled, Marco crushing Ace against himself, face buried in his hair as he inhaled.

It took a moment for Ace to process, but once he did, he smiled into the side of Marco’s neck and wrapped his arms around his back.

“Don’t scare me like that again, understand?” Marco said, his voice muffled by Ace’s hair, and the heat that should have been in his voice melting into relief. “We have partners for a reason. We do not follow random tips from street thugs on our own.”

“Shanks isn’t a street thug,” Ace said absentmindedly, too wrapped up in Marco to pay much attention to the conversation.

“He might as well be.” Ace was about to retort, but he belatedly realized that neither of them were wearing any clothes, and he pulled back, his face on fire.

“We should um- Teach is still-” Marco smiled at him and brushed a stray lock from Ace’s face, thumb trailing lingeringly along his cheekbone. He walked away to where his clothes had fallen earlier, leaving Ace shivering at the loss of warmth, and dressed unselfconsciously as Ace tried to figure out where to look.

“Do you know where your clothes are?” Marco asked, pulling his phone out and dialing quickly. Ace shook his head, but he found them in a couple minutes, shoved under the register.

“Smug bastard,” Ace muttered, “leaving them almost in plain sight.” He pulled his clothes on gratefully and looked dubiously at the storeroom door. A warm hand settled on his shoulder, and Ace leaned unconsciously into the touch, smiling over his shoulder at Marco.

“Don’t worry,I doubt he’ll try anything, and if he does, it won’t be a problem, trust me. My being able to change a spell while it was in progress and cast by someone else... well, he knows he’s out matched.” Marco wrinkled his nose. “Lions are never my first choice, but it’s easier to stick with mammals when the original spell was for a mammal.”

Ace stared at him with wide eyes and pouted when Marco laughed and ruffled his hair.

“What you thought you knew everything about the job in three weeks? Not even close, though we’re going to have to step up your training clearly.”

“I’m pretty sure none of this was in the job description,” Ace said dryly, and Marco laughed again.

Sirens shrieked in the distance as they looked around at the poor animals huddled miserably in their cages. “I got the names of four or five illegal traders while I was here.”

“Good. Looks like we’ll be busy for some time to come.” The predatory look in Marco’s eyes made Ace smile in return. Thatch and Izo walked through the front door, a whole bunch of animal techs with them, and made their way over to Marco and Ace.

“You guys should get out of here. We’ll take it from here.” Thatch shook his head at Ace and clapped him on the back. “You gotta be more careful, kid.”

Ace huffed but returned Izo’s hug and let Marco lead him away from the shop. They were almost to Marco’s car when Ace stopped and turned to him. Marco paused as well, looking at him questioningly, and Ace grinned.

“Thank you, by the way,” Ace said. Marco smiled the warm, gentle smile again, the one Ace had noticed was only for him, and his stomach flipped.

“Of course. But don’t think you should be doing crazy stuff alone aga-” Ace stopped his warning with a press of his lips, chaste and brief, but more than enough to send fire shooting through his veins. He smiled softly at Marco’s shocked expression and got in the car, snickering when Marco muttered something about him being a trouble and got in the car without another word.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 of MarcoAce Week 2015: Flowers 
> 
> Thanks to imperialmint for betaing again <3

“Hey, are we ever going to be done here?”

“You could stand to look around, Ace,” Sabo said absently, his eyes never leaving the art in front of him. “Even you could learn something. There’s several famous gardens if you’re feeling unbearably pinned in though.”

Ace rolled his eyes but started in the direction Sabo pointed. Maybe he could find Luffy. he was about somewhere, unless he’d gotten kicked out already. Whatever he was doing was surely more fun than watching Sabo sketch endlessly. He didn’t know why he’d even agreed to go when Sabo suggested it.

He’d been restless lately, but there was no reason to suppose that a museum of all places would help with that. Maybe he should call Law and see if he wanted to hang out later. Ace frowned as he finally found a door to the gardens, wondering why that didn’t appeal anymore. Well, Luffy’d definitely be up for video games after this, and so what if he didn’t want to go clubbing on a Friday?

The gardens were pretty enough, Ace supposed. There certainly were enough colors bursting all around him, and the stuffiness and suffocating quiet that shrouded the interior of the museum were absent here. He didn’t hear any yelling, so Luffy must be someplace else, but he strolled along the paths anyway. Sabo would be forever at his drawings in all likelihood, so he might as well kill some time.

His phone buzzed, but he ignored it. There was no way it was Sabo so soon, and Luffy was once again between phones. Ace smiled. Even Sabo hadn’t been able to summon up the energy to scold him this time. Phones and Luffy just didn’t go together. It was undoubtedly Law arranging a hook up in that weirdly impersonal manner of his that always made Ace feel vaguely dirty or someone else inviting him out to drink.

Tonight he was going to emulate a clam. He just wasn’t in the mood for all the bother. Lost in his thoughts, Ace failed to notice the person walking on the same trail as he was, almost crashing into the man. A clipboard clattered to the ground, and few papers scattered on the breeze. Ace dashed after the one the blew by him as the man calmly collected up the others.

The paper was eventually caught up in a rose, and Ace disentangled it gently, trying not to disturb the plant too much. He was stuck with a thorn for his pains and cursed as blood welled up slowly. He turned to return the paper to the man who dropped them, and stumbled back in surprise since the man had come up behind him. Fortunately, he was saved from furthering his acquaintance with the rose bush by a warm hand which caught his arm and steadied him.

Ace grinned sheepishly. “Thanks. I’m sorry for scattering your papers.” Blue eyes grabbed Ace’s focus and wouldn’t let go. After far too long for Ace to be staring still, the man quirked a brow.

“Thank you for collecting it.” When Ace simply nodded, the man’s smile grew. “May I have it back?”

A blush rushed to Ace’s face as he cursed himself for being such a fool. He handed back the paper immediately, forgetting his thumb was still bleeding until the man’s eyes caught on it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw he’d managed to not bleed on the paper. The man grabbed his hand in his own, ignoring the paper he held out and inspecting Ace’s thumb.

“Nasty scratch. The roses can be mean. Let me bandage this for you.”

Ace’s protest was caught in his throat at the man’s expression. There would be no refusing then. He studied the man’s name tag.“Thank you, Marco” he said instead. “I’d hate to bleed all over everything.”

“Thank you for retrieving that paper for me. At great personal risk too.” Marco grinned, and Ace got the feeling that he was being made fun of, but somehow it didn’t matter, not if it made Marco smile like that. “Come on.” Ace found himself tugged along back to the museum and into a staff only door and sat on an ancient looking oak desk in a tiny office.

Marco rummaged in a closet, coming out with a first aid kit triumphantly. Ace’s lips twitched, but he repressed a smile.

“So what’s your name?” Marco asked as he pulled out what he’d need.

“Ace.” He hissed out a breath as Marco washed out the scratch thoroughly. “So you work here? Or do you just make a habit of breaking and entering?”

Marco’s smile warmed Ace all through. “No, I’m the director of the gardens. I design them and make sure they’re kept up.”

“They’re gorgeous,” Ace said truthfully as Marco finished putting on the bandage and stepped away. He found himself missing Marco’s subtle cologne and tried to quash the feeling. “I know nothing about gardens or plants or anything, and I really only came because my brother trapped me into it, but I enjoyed walking through them immensely.” He wrinkled his nose. “Much better than all the fussy stuff inside.”

He wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them, but Marco just laughed and leaned back in. “I happen to agree, but don’t tell Robin-- she’s the curator for the inside-- I said so,” he said in a stage whisper, winking at Ace. “Would you like a tour, or do you have to get back to your brother?”  

Ace checked the time on his phone, leaving the text from Law unread. “I’d love a tour. Sabo won’t be done for hours.”

“Good.” The unabashed satisfaction in Marco’s tone washed over Ace, and he had to repress a shiver. Mischief danced in his eyes as he grinned at Ace. “Shall we?”

 

* * *

 

The gardens were absolutely breathtaking, even though Ace had somewhat of a hard time focusing on them. Marco showed him all his favorite places: a tucked away little nook with benches where flowers rioted with color; a charming fountain, bursting with waterlilies; and a gorgeous hummingbird garden, brimming with the brilliant, jewel-toned birds.

Ace was reassured by the little touches, the speaking glances, that he was far from alone in his attraction, even though Marco was a consummate professional for the duration of the tour. They talked throughout, the topics varied from the gardens to Ace’s classes to their families. Ace hadn’t felt so at ease with someone in a very long time, maybe never, and he found himself relishing every minute of their walk.

They ended in the museum cafe, where Ace was shocked to not see Luffy. Marco had laughed and apologized for the habit-- they were always supposed to end there to entice guests into buying something-- but it was perfect to Ace.

“I don’t suppose you have time for a cup of coffee? I certainly owe you one for such a wonderful tour.” Something in him loosened when Marco checked the clock and agreed, and he could breathe properly again.

“So you’ve got plans to change the rose garden before next year?” Ace asked when they sat down, coffee in hand.  

Marco took a sip of his coffee and hummed, and Ace had to remind himself yet again that staring was probably rude, and drooling certainly was. “Yeah, but I’m not sure it will happen.” He sighed. “It’d be better for the roses and much more interesting to look at, but the board of directors are hidebound old stuffed shirts, and any change you suggest is treated like the most outrageous suggestion since women were allowed to vote.” Marco rolled his eyes, and Ace winced in sympathy.

“Luckily, Robin is with me, and she manages them in the end. I’m not sure how, and I’m pretty sure I want it to stay like that.”

Ace’s phone rang, interrupting him before he could ask about Robin. It was for the best, he thought as he dug it out to answer it, since jealousy curled in his belly at the fond tone in Marco’s voice. Utterly ridiculous and stalkerish on top of that.

“Hello?”

“Ace? Are you still here? I’m ready to leave. I finally tracked down Luffy. He was having tea in the curator’s office.” Ace blinked, and he felt even guiltier for his feelings about Robin. If Luffy liked her, she was probably pretty cool. “Anyway, we’ll be on the front steps. Probably easiest to meet there. He hung up before Ace could answer.

Marco’s rueful smile told Ace he’d gotten the jist of the conversation, and Ace was struck with the desire not to leave. Marco was at work, though, and he’d monopolized his time long enough. “Unfortunately I have to go, but-” He snagged a pen from Marco’s pocket, wallowing in the brief contact far more than was healthy no doubt, and scrawled his number on a napkin. He slid it across to Marco and grinned, at seeing hope and something warmer flicker in Marco’s eyes. “Here’s my number so we can arrange our next date. I had a wonderful time on this one.” Marco’s eyes widened, and his gaze shot to his coffee cup. Ace’s grin grew as he stood up and turned to the museum entrance without looking back.

He didn’t need to turn to know that Marco’s gaze was solely for him, and if he put a little more thought to how he walked out, a little more sway in his step, well no one could blame him.

Sabo and Luffy were waiting for him on the steps, and both of them stared at him suspiciously as he approached.

“What?”

“You’re happy.”

“You let me draw with no interruptions for hours.”

Ace glared as the started walking to the subway station. “I can have a nice time at a museum too!”

They just looked at him, and Ace had to laugh. “Okay, maybe I met someone.”

The barrage of questions that followed was swallowed by chime of Ace’s phone. Ace’s heart nearly stopped at the sound-- it couldn’t be, not so soon, but maybe just maybe. Luffy and Sabo stared at him expectantly, and Ace was grateful when they both nudged him.

Blood beat furiously in his ears when he pulled out his phone: it said one text from an unknown number. He held his breath as he opened it, hoping, grateful that both Sabo and Luffy looked away.

Given that we had our first date without me even being notified, I don’t suppose tonight in a few hours would be too short notice for dinner would? There’s a great Italian place not too far from the university, so it shouldn’t be too far out of your way.

Ace grinned all the way home, and for once, didn’t protest when Sabo helped him pick out his clothes. He had a good feeling about this.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for day 4 of MarcoAce week AU, which I had a hard time picking an idea for. But I needed kitten fluff so I wrote that instead of any of the three other things I'd planned.
> 
> Thanks to imperial mint for being a star and betaing this for me!

The sun shone brilliantly in the perfectly blue sky, puffy white clouds sporadically scattered about. A light breeze blew, and Ace was sure you couldn’t get a day more perfect than this. He turned to grin back at Marco, who was lagging behind him on the hiking trail, taking in the beauty of the wildflowers in the meadow they were crossing.

“Hey, Marco, hurry up!” Marco shot him a glare, but Ace just smiled back, knowing that Marco no more meant it than he had. “C’mon, there’s a good spot in the shade up here to have our picnic. You can stare all you like then. I’m hungry!”

“And when is that anything new?” Marco asked, but he sped up, and soon they were sitting down on an old blanket overlooking the meadow under an oak that must have been at least 200 years old, digging into the sandwiches they’d packed. Ace had to admit it was really worth taking the time to admire the scenery, the rolling hills surrounding them just starting to blush with fall color, the wildflowers punches of color in the golden grass.

“You know,” Ace said between bites of his sandwich, “the only thing that would make this better would be a dog.”

Marco smiled but shook his head as he snagged a carrot stick. “You know we don’t have the space for that Ace. Not where we’re at now. We only get to do this two or three times a month and the rest of the time, the poor thing would be stuck in our tiny apartment.”  A sigh escaped Ace, and Marco frowned. “Maybe sometime soon, when our lease is up in a few months, we can look for a new place.”

Ace hummed, leaning into Marco, as they looked around. “Still, it’d be nice to have the company, and not just on our hikes. I love our apartment, but when you’re gone, and I’m not properly distracted, it starts to close in on me.”

“Properly distracted, hmm?” Marco’s breath caressed over his ear, and Ace had to repress a shudder at the way his tone had deepened.

“I just want to make it clear if we get arrested for public indecency again, it’s going to be your fault this time.” Marco chuckled, and it shot straight through Ace, warming him throughout.

“I’ve done absolutely nothing.” Marco tsked and caught Ace’s wrist, stopping his hand from working any further up his thigh. “You’re not behaving at all properly.”

A small noise in the nearby brush caught Ace’s attention, pulling his focus away from Marco. Ace swiveled around to peer into the woods not far past the oak, ignoring that he’d ended up in Marco’s lap apart from a raised brow. Marco pressed a kiss to his neck, and Ace relaxed into it, looking away from the woods.

The sound repeated, louder now, and Ace snapped back. He’d definitely heard something that time, and it didn’t sound like a woodland creature.

“Ace?” Marco asked, turning to look into the woods. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, but it almost sounded like a-” The bush nearest them rustled, and the plaintive cry came again, louder this time, and Marco made no protest when Ace slipped away, crouching as he approached the bush and clicked his tongue. The scrawniest looking kitten he’d ever seen tumbled out of the bush in a tangle of paws and tail. Ace heard Marco inhale sharply and wondered if he was having an equally hard time not laughing.

It picked itself up, sat down in an appropriately dignified position, and licked its shoulder twice as if to say everything had gone exactly as planned. Ace snorted and reached out to the kitten. It finally deigned to notice him and cried as it sauntered up to him, eyes pleading. It let him pick it up, and he carried it back to Marco gingerly.

The poor thing was skin and bones, and anger sparked in Ace’s chest. They were easily miles from the nearest houses. Someone surely had dumped this poor kitten out in the wilderness for it to fend for itself. Ace set it on the blanket near Marco, who was already tearing up some chicken from his sandwich and cooing nonsense under his breath at the little-- Ace twisted to get a better look-- guy.

He was black underneath all the dust with short fur, and his eyes starting to shift toward green. He couldn’t be much more than three months, even with not having proper food for who knows how long.

“There you go, little one,” Marco said, handing him a piece of chicken. He scarfed it down and looked for more. “No, not yet. You gotta go slow or you’re not going to be able to keep it down.”     

The kitten didn’t like that advice and tried to pry Marco’s hand open to get more. “There will be none of that.” Marco picked him up and looked at Ace. “We’d better give Stefan’s vet a call. They’ll probably be able to look- him?” Ace nodded, scratching the kitten under his chin. “-over today. Looks like we’ll be cutting our hike a bit short though.”

“I’ve never thought to get a cat before, but he’d fit in our apartment, wouldn’t he?” Ace did his best attempt at Luffy’s puppy dog eyes, although judging from Marco’s doting gaze as he slipped him morsels of chicken, the kitten already had a new home.

“Yes, I think he’ll do nicely, don’t you?” Ace began packing up the picnic, and Marco stood up, the kitten climbing onto his shoulder and inspecting his hair for more chicken. It was quick work to pack up, and the set off back to the car.

“He needs a name. A proper one for a black cat,” Ace said. Marco winced as claws dug into his ear, and Ace gently detached the kitten from him, stroking him until he got sleepy and curled up on his shoulder for a nap, fitting in Ace’s palm easily. Ace couldn’t believe how small he was.

Marco hummed in thought, glaring at the kitten who was behaving so well for Ace. “Devil cat,” he suggested, and Ace snickered.

“Maybe Lucifer? He could be a Lucifer,” Ace said, stroking the kitten softly as it kneaded his shoulder gently and purred.

Marco smiled and stole Lucifer back as they rounded the bend, cradling him against his chest as he pulled out his phone to call the vet, and Ace was very glad they had decided to go on a hike today. Marco was too busy fussing to drive, so Ace drove them to the vet grinning at Marco’s utter infatuation. This was just what their little place needed to be home.

 

* * *

 

Marco parked a bit down the street to keep Ace from hearing him or his surprise, who thoughtfully licked the back of his neck as he turned of the car. Marco turned around to glare at the unrepentant mutt he’d just picked up from the shelter.

“There will be none of that now,” he said and received a tail wag. He’d picked out some sort of lab mix... or at least that was what they said at the rescue center. Marco was willing to bet they had no idea either, and just had gone based on the size. He grabbed the dog’s leash, and they got out of the car.

He should have probably waited until they were all moved in, but there was only so much time before Ace would decide it was time himself, and he wanted this to be a surprise. He’d been way too busy at work lately, leaving Ace to deal with much of the move, and while Ace swore he didn’t mind, Marco still felt bad. Ace hadn’t mentioned it since the day they’d found Lucifer, but Marco knew he still wanted a dog.

The back gate creaked when Marco opened it, and he lead their new dog to their new backyard. It was a tiny backyard since they were still in the city, but there was enough room for a dog to get a bit of exercise in. They both liked walking anyway. The dog sniffed around excitedly, and Marco let him off his leash. He was off, head stuffed in the bushes as his tail went like mad.

Marco left him to it and made his way back up front and into the house. It was silent inside, and Marco frowned. He was sure Ace would be here. Their furniture hadn’t arrived yet, but the boxes they’d brought themselves were all here. He stepped into the living room and stifled a laugh. Ace was sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by opened boxes, paper everywhere. He snored softly, a pillow from their couch under his head, and Lucifer blinked up at him sleepily from Ace’s back.

He’d grown into a handsome cat, and while he did live up to his name a bit too often, he more than made up for it. He stood up and stretched as Marco made his way over, blinking sleepily and mewing softly as he sauntered up to Marco. Ace stirred and smiled blearily up at Marco.

“Hey,” Ace said, his voice soft and thick with sleep. “What time is it?”

“A little after eight. Sorry I’m late again, but I have a good reason this time. I think you’ll like it.” Ace sat up and Marco scooped up Lucifer. “C’mon, better to introduce them in neutral territory.” Ace made a soft questioning noise, and Marco tossed him the leash. It took a minute for it to filter through Ace’s sleep clouded mind, but the hope and excitement in his eyes made Marco’s stomach flip.

“Marco?”

“Let’s go the backyard.”

Ace scrambled up and dashed off, Marco following at a more sedate pace, Lucifer purring contentedly in his ear. They found Ace and the dog greeting each other enthusiastically in the middle of the lawn, and Lucifer stiffened. Ace had clipped the leash on the dog, so they could introduce the two of them, and Marco approached slowly.

“What’s his name?” Ace asked, and Marco smiled.

“That’s up to you. I picked Devil Cat and look how well that went.” Ace laughed, and Marco could tell he was thinking of all the many drinking glasses that had met their untimely end. They both turned to the dog consideringly, Lucifer growling at the curious dog.

“Fredrick,” Ace said decisively, and Marco blinked.

“Fredrick?”

“Yeah, he looks like a Fredrick,” Ace said nodding to himself, and Marco decided not to ask. He’d learned over the years.

“Fredrick, it is then.” Marco backed up a bit, still holding Lucifer. “Back up a bit and let’s see how they get on.”

Ace stood back holding the leash firmly as Marco bent down and let the animals sniff each other. Lucifer immediately fluffed up and belted Fredrick across the face. Fredrick whined and backed up, startled but not hurt, and looked at Ace.

“It’s okay, he’s just worried about how big you are,” Ace said scratching Fredrick’s ears. “You did exactly right.” Marco relaxed when Lucifer calmed down like Ace had said and began looking calculating. They’d get on fine, he was sure.

“Let’s go in,” Marco said, and Ace nodded, lingering in the door after the animals had made their way in.

“Thanks, Marco. He’s perfect.” He pressed a kiss to Marco’s lips, and they went in. Ace looked around their living room, Lucifer perched on one of the many stacks of boxes, lording over Fredrick, who was ignoring that he was supposed to be groveling and was trying to get him to play instead. Ace leaned back into Marco, who wrapped around him as the looked at the mess that was their living room.

“It’s perfect,” Ace said, and Marco couldn’t agree more.  


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for anon on tumblr! Thank you to [ImperialMint](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialMint) for betaing as always. Prompt at the bottom so as not to spoil anything... 
> 
> Warnings: Explicit sex

Marco blinked blearily in the weak morning light that shone through his window, starting when bare skin brushed along him and brought back the events of last night. A noise of complaint sounded from the covers, and Ace burrowed down under them, pressing into Marco’s chest, across which he was sprawled. Though it had been a few weeks since Marco, finally noticing the sidelong glances and lingering touches Ace had been giving him were not his imagination, had given in and kissed him, Marco still hadn’t come to terms that at least for now, Ace was his.

He’d have pegged Ace as one to act on his feelings easily, but there had been something holding him back, something that Marco saw in his eyes even now. Whatever it was, Marco didn’t like it, but it was enough for now that Ace would be here with him like this. Marco let his hands brush through Ace’s tangled hair, memories of last night bringing a smile to his lips as Ace’s breath fluttered across sensitive skin.

Ace’s contented hum faded off into a whine when Marco started to shift out from under him.

“No, stay.” The words were muffled by the covers, and Marco felt them more than heard them, but his smile grew, and he stilled, hands wandering across Ace’s back, tracing the tattoo he knew was there.

“They’d know that something was up if I didn’t show up at the usual time. I have no problems with that, really, but they’ll pry, you know they will.”

Ace huffed out an annoyed breath, and Marco shivered, not bothering to conceal how much Ace affected him. “It’s entirely too early.

“If we’d slept much, I don’t think there’d be-” Marco hissed in a breath as Ace slid down, teeth grazing lightly down his chest and stomach, and he jolted when Ace bit teasingly on his hipbone. He was already mostly hard, and with Ace mouthing where he’d bit Marco and trailing lazy kisses to give similar treatment to each of his inner thighs in turn, it didn’t take long until his breath came in unsteady bursts.

Ace wasn’t in the mood to tease long though, or maybe he didn’t want the others to notice Marco sleeping late. Marco threw his head back when Ace closed his lips around the head of his cock, heat slamming into his belly as Ace sucked lightly then hummed, seemingly pleased at the taste. A tongue toyed with the the foreskin, before it trailed almost curiously along the underside of his dick.

“Ace,” Marco said softly, drawing out his name on a slight moan, trying to remain quiet, biting down on a hand to keep in his moans, the other coming to tangle in Ace’s hair.

The pleased noise Ace let out vibrated though Marco as he took Marco’s cock in his mouth again. Marco nearly lost control and fucked up into his mouth when Ace moaned at the sensation of him hitting the back of his throat.

“God, Ace, you-” He lost his words when Ace started a brutal pace, sucking as he moved up and down. His hands came up to Marco’s hips, but instead of pinning him he slid his hands under him, pressing him upwards.

Marco thrust up instinctively, and he was rewarded with another moan, Ace’s breath shuddering against the back of Marco’s dick. Any thought of slow was out the window and sinking quickly to the depths of the sea, and all there was was heat, heat and delicious pressure as he fucked Ace’s mouth. Marco dimly tasted blood from where he’d bitten his hand, but all there was was Ace, Ace and his wonderfully talented mouth.

Ace pushed the pace faster, Marco’s world spinning out from under him at the shattering pace. He tugged at Ace’s hair, trying to ground himself as pressure built. He came, his hand not quite managing to muffle the noise, Ace swallowing around him and milking every bit of pleasure from him. Ace licked him clean thoroughly, light on his oversensitive flesh, as he melted into the bed.

Which he found himself summarily shoved out of before he could gather his wits. “What?” Marco asked stupidly.

“You’re going to be late, right?” Ace grinned lazily at him, shifting to burrow into the bed again.

“But what about-” Marco cut off as his shirt was thrown at him-- and really, how did that manage to stay in the bed all night?-- and Ace smiled at him, lust and pleasure and mischief combining to make Marco a bit unsteady on his feet when he stood.

“I’ll figure something out, I’m sure,” Ace said, managing to make it sound positively filthy and leaving no doubt as to his meaning. “It’s not like they expect me to be up this godforsaken hour. Who knows, I might even still be here when you get back.” He yawned, far too obviously to be real, and stretched sinuously, damn him, looking rumpled and perfect and at home in Marco’s bed.  

Marco snatched up pants from the floor and threw them on. He left quickly, tuning out Ace’s last attempt to seduce him and marching down the hall, determined.

This was going to be the fastest breakfast ever. He was pretty sure there was crucial paperwork that needed doing in his room.

 

* * *

 

 

When he walked in the mess hall, the noise just... stopped. Marco frowned inwardly as he casually went to fetch his breakfast, ignoring the stares of the kitchen workers for the day. He must be really set in his routine for not even an hour late throwing everyone off this much.

He headed over to an empty table as Pops would have eaten long ago. Breakfast was always a time for the crew to come up and talk to Pops or him about anything, and today would be no different, even if it would be a bit more rushed than usual, and considerably later on his part. It was taking far too much of his concentration to keep his mind off of Ace in his bed, pleasuring himself to thoughts of what they’d done last night, or maybe what they’d do when Marco managed to get away, moaning, his name on his lips as his came all over the sheets, and- Shit.

He took a sip of juice and hoped he was managing to keep a blank face. Conversation had resumed when Marco sat down-- increased even-- but though many eyes were on him, no one came to join him. Just as well, Marco decided, though it might be nice to have a concrete distraction.

He’d barely gotten a start on his eggs when Thatch swung out of the kitchen, eyes wide as he looked at him, flicking down and back up incredulously.

“I thought they were pulling my leg in the back. Marco, what the hell?!” Marco blinked and looked down about to protest that the lack of sandals was fine, no matter what Thatch’s ridiculous sensibilities said, and his jaw dropped. He closed his eyes in the flimsy hope that when he reopened them he’d have been wrong, but no, he really was wearing Ace’s pants, the ridiculous belt and all. There was really no doubting whose they were.

He looked back up at Thatch, and his utter bafflement at the situation must have shown because Thatch smacked him on the head and took a seat.

“Eat it before it gets cold,” he said, and Marco complied mechanically, not tasting the food in the slightest.

“Well, I guess it’s not a secret anymore.”

“Not really.” Thatch stole Marco’s coffee and took a gulp. “So how long?”

“Since a few weeks ago.”

“No, I meant-” Thatch broke off to glare at him. “This has been going on a few weeks and neither of you bothered to tell anyone?!”

“We knew people would pester us about it, and we decided it was better to let ourselves work things out before we invited all of you to comment,” Marco said drily. “There goes that, I guess.”

“Excuse me, we wouldn’t interfere.” Thatch huffed and stole a piece of his bacon in retribution. Marco decided to let that one slide.

“And then what was your question?”

“How long before this blows up in your face and makes everyone miserable and have to choose sides? He’s your crewmate, Marco! You can’t fuck that up for a fling!”

“How’s that not getting involved in our business?” Thatch growled and stole the rest of his bacon, glowering as he scarfed it.

“Just answer the question.”

“Well, considering I’ve been in love with him for quite some time,” Thatch’s jaw dropping was almost worth the loss of his bacon, Marco decided, “as far as I’m concerned, as long as he wants me, I’m his.” Marco paused, his throat tightening on his next words, trying to keep in. But he knew they had no promises. “I’ll take any time he’s willing to give me. If he wants to find someone else ... well, it wouldn’t be surprising. He’s young after all.”

Thatch was even more dumbfounded than Marco had expected, his eyes wide as he stared ... behind Marco. Marco turned in his seat, heart in his throat in the unnatural quiet of the bustling mess hall. Ace simply stood there for a moment, shocked, eyes wondering, but then the most beautiful smile Marco had ever seen split his face in two. He closed the distance between them, just a few steps, but those miniscule moments stretched into eternity, Marco’s heart pounding in his ears.

Ace slid into his lap like it was just the two of them at night in his rooms, and Marco was struck by the familiarity, the rightness, of it all. It was just them when Ace leaned in, lips brushing his ear, alone in a room filled with gaping spectators. He barely registered that Thatch was fussing in the distance.

“Thank you.” Ace pulled back to look Marco in the eyes, and the shadow, the one Marco’d hated for weeks had melted into something lighter, softer, and it took his breath away. Ace captured his lips in a kiss that was in no way proper, tame, or chaster, and it was perfection. He broke the kiss too soon, but Marco was beginning to let the hope grow that maybe, maybe they had all the time in the world, maybe he could hope for everything he’d denied himself. “I love you too.”

Thatch sputtered indignantly in the background, but the bacon thief deserved it, and Ace radiated happiness, leaving him breathless, giddy, and he reached out to pull Ace closer. His hands brushed along familiar fabric, and he raised a brow when he saw Ace had grabbed his pants instead of sneaking to his own room. He must have come in hurry once he’d realized what had happened as his hat and beads were missing, but he’d taken the time to wind Marco’s sash around his waist.

“You know?” Ace asked innocently. “I rather like rather like being in your pants. I might have to stay in them.” Marco snorted, pulling Ace even closer, and glancing over at Thatch to see him still incoherent. “What do you think?”

“Sounds good to me. We should probably go downstairs though. We’ve injured Thatch enough for the day, I think.”

As Ace unwound himself from Marco’s lap and they left the still silent mess hall, Marco mused that probably no one would think it all strange if they slept in tomorrow, a smile on his lips that felt like it would never fade, not as long as Ace’s hand was warm in his.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you ever accept prompts, would you do a fic where marco and ace have a secret (ish) relationship and one of them leaves but accidentally wears one of the other's clothing and everyone is like um. Thank you :D


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for a very lovely anon on tumblr! Hope you've been feeling better!!

Marco shifted his bag, resting it on a hip so he could get a hand free to ring the bell. It was a quaint little place, he thought, and he was a bit surprised given the neighborhood. Honestly, when Ace had texted him his address, he’d been more than a little shocked, but this was definitely a home, and a beloved one at that, despite the ramshackle exterior and the fact that it was smack dab in the middle of bandit territory.

 

Still, he understood better why none of them had ever been invited previous to this. Having resettled his packages, Marco rang the bell. The door was flung open before his hand left the bell, and Marco wasn’t too proud to admit he jumped back, almost dropping the soup and god-knows-what-else the others had packed for Ace, whining about how Marco got to go see where Ace lived while shoving anything and everything Ace might possible need in Marco’s arms.

 

Curious, dark eyes looked up at him, and Marco smiled, recognizing Luffy from the wanted posters Ace had proudly shown Pops just last month.

 

“Hey, you must be Luffy, right?” Marco said, and he was answered with a decisive nod.

 

“I’m Luffy,” he agreed, grinning as he opened the door so Marco could enter. “Who are you?”

 

Marco blinked, already taking off his shoes. “Shouldn’t you ask that before you let me in?”

 

“Why?” Luffy asked, head tilting in confusion, and Marco suddenly understood that Ace’s ridiculous protectiveness was perhaps not quite as unwarranted as they’d all thought. “Are you a bad guy?”

 

“What? No, I- Never mind,” Marco said, deciding not to get into that. “I’m Marco, from Whitebeard’s-” Luffy brightened.

 

“Ace’s Marco? See, you’re a good guy after all. He’s asleep right now, but he was looking forward to you coming.” He hummed in thought, looking torn. “You can wait with me. Sabo said not to wake him up.” With that he pulled Marco further into the house, burden and all.   
  


“Is Sabo home?” Marco asked. He got only a brief picture of clutter as they raced through the halls. He almost dropped everything more than once, but Luffy had good reflexes for all his rush and managed to drag him through the house and catch everything that fell in the process.

 

“Luffy! Is that Marco?” Ace yelled from somewhere in the house, and Marco started. “Hi, Marco!”

 

“Shut up! You’re napping, idiot!”

 

“Let me out, Luffy!”

“I can’t hear you,” Luffy sang and grinned at Marco, who had to smile back despite his confusion. He added more quietly, “Don’t worry, he’s fine. Just a little cold. Sabo had to lock him up to get him to rest.”

 

“I could just break down the door you know!” Ace hollered from somewhere, and Marco began to wonder just how sick he really was.

 

“I thought he had a fever this morning?” Marco said, and Luffy nodded.

 

“Yeah, he had one for a whole hour before he started to get better. It’s a nasty cold. He’s never been so sick.” Luffy shook his head sadly, and Marco fought to keep from gaping. Apparently, idiots could catch colds, just not keep them.

 

Luffy took in a deep breath to yell back, and this time Marco noticed in time not to be surprised. “Then we won’t spar with you! Sabo said so! We’d have to spar the other 50 with each other again.”

 

There was a muffled noise of frustration, and Luffy nodded in satisfaction before pulling Marco into the kitchen.

 

Marco stared around him in horror as he was pushed into a surprisingly comfortable chair at a massive wood table, rough-hewn and scarred and looking like it would take at least four people to move it. There was not a square inch of the area around the stove not covered in... something. Most of it was vaguely brown in color, gelatinous, and still dripping slowly down the walls. The air hung with the scent of burned liver, making Marco have to choke back a cough.

 

A ginormous pot simmered-- smoked, really-- on the stove next to a kettle that had clearly been boiling for some time, whistling shrilly, and Luffy went straight to the to stir, sniffing the acrid air and humming in content. He turned back to Marco, who’d yet to wipe the shock from his face, and sighed, a pout taking over his previously happy expression.

 

“The first one exploded,” he said mournfully. “I don’t know what went wrong. I did it just like Makino always did when I was sick.” He turned back to his second batch. “This one’s perfect though! Ace will love it!” He laughed, and took the shrieking kettle off the stove, pouring what had to be mostly steam into the teapot waiting nearby (mercifully it seemed to have been taken out after the explosion as it was clean).

 

He helped Marco sort out all of the things his brothers had foisted on him while waiting for the tea to brew, whistling at the impressive array of food, medicine, and stuff to do. Marco brought the tea over while he put away the food, not wanting it to be more overbrewed than it was already going to be.

 

“It’s good Ace has people to fuss over him,” Luffy said softly, his gaze on the pile of stuff, and Marco’s eyes widened. His throat caught at the expression on Luffy’s face, the question dying on his lips.

 

“How long until Ace is done... resting?” Marco asked instead.

 

“Until Sabo comes back. It shouldn’t be long.” Luffy froze then turned to the mess in horror, and Marco couldn’t help but laugh and ruffle his hair.

 

“We’d better get started cleaning then, huh?”

 

 

* * *

 

They’d just managed to clean up the last of it when the front door opened. Luffy took a defensive position immediately, his eyes turning darker than Marco would have believed possible before he’d seen it.

 

“Just me,” A voice called out, and Luffy relaxed and grinned at Marco, mouthing “Sabo”. Before Marco could think too deeply about unlocked doors in this neighborhood, a massive crash sounded from upstairs, followed by what sounded a lot like a stampede of elephants tripping and falling down the stairs. A series of thuds and grunts followed, and Ace and Sabo tumbled into the room, Sabo pinning Ace to the floor neatly.

 

“Hey, no fair starting without me!” Luffy whined and pounced on the two of them before Marco had caught up. They flailed in a tangle of limbs, and Marco decided that this must just be normal given what he’d seen so far (and boy, today explained a lot about Ace), so he sat calmly at the table sipping his admittedly bitter tea. Eventually, Ace managed to extract himself from the fray he’d seemingly caused, standing up and grinning at Marco sheepishly.

 

“Ah, hi Marco, sorry about that.” Marco chuckled, looking Ace over to see if he was really better. He was a bit paler than usual, dark circles smudged under his eyes, and Marco frowned.

 

“Should you really be out of bed?” Marco asked, and Ace’s eyes widened before he smiled.

 

“I’m fine now. I stayed in bed all day, promise!” Marco’s lips twitched, and he looked pointedly at the clock, which read just after two. Ace rolled his eyes. “Well, close enough.”

 

“Luffy, did you manage to make soup while I was gone?” Sabo asked, stirring the vile brew. “It looks great! Just like Makino-san’s!” Marco blinked, but Ace had gone over to investigate too, and Marco watched in astonishment as he sniffed before sighing appreciatively, Luffy beaming proudly at his accomplishment.

 

“Yeah, the second batch turned out perfect!” Sabo and Ace exchanged a glance and looked back to Luffy. Sabo spoke first.

 

“What happened to the first batch?” Luffy shot Marco a pleading glance, and he found himself unable to resist.

 

“It’s already gone,” he said, hoping they’d think they ate it or something, but apparently, they knew Luffy a bit too well.

 

“Luffy, don’t make guests clean up your messes!” Sabo scolded.

 

“Yeah, Marco shouldn’t have to- Oh, that’s what that noise was then?” Ace asked, and Luffy nodded. “That’s so cool. It rocked the whole house!”

 

Sabo smacked Ace on the head. “Don’t encourage him!”

 

“But Sabo, it was a huge explosion. You should have been here!” Marco hid a grin at Sabo’s obvious inward battle, clearly impressed in spite of himself, before Sabo just gave in and sighed.

 

“Let’s just go finish sparring for the day.” He turned to Marco. “You’re more than welcome to stay. I know Ace missed you.”

 

Marco turned to Ace, who was studiously examining the floor and smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

 

Later that night, after dinner was long over (Marco watching in fascination as between the three of them they consumed the whole massive pot of the special soup, thankful he’d been given some of the soup Thatch had sent over), Marco smiled at the three of them asleep in a heap on the couch together, a movie playing in the background and wondered how on earth he was going to explain this day when he got home.

  
  
  


 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few are old ones I never put up here because I got distracted haha...

“And why can’t your men take care of this?” Marco asked, glaring at Shanks, who just ginned in return, his feet propped on top of his messy desk. “Or you for that matter, Sheriff.”

“They’re all out on other jobs. And I have to go drin-- I’m busy too.” Marco narrowed his eyes at his obvious cover up. “Besides, it’s not often we have a deputy visiting from another town, much less the famous Marco the Phoenix. It’ll promote inter-county cooperation. Or something.”

Shanks got up from his desk, ignoring Marco’s on impressed stare. “Surely guarding a freight train for fifteen miles isn’t too much for a well know deputy like you. I’ll even get you help.” He open the door and yelled “Ace! I’m deputizing you.”

Makino, Shank’s secretary, jumped at the sudden noise. “But sir, he’s in lock-up.”

“Oh, right. Well, get him out.”

“What about the charges?”

“Drop them. Kids will be kids.” Shanks waved it off as Makino bit on her lower lip.

“But sir, he burnt down the entire--” Marco couldn’t help but be curious now, but Shanks stopped Makino before he could find out just what was the cause of the smoke they’d seen from twenty miles off yesterday.

“Makino, do you really want that kid in jail?” Makino grinned and grabbed the keys from the hook on the wall.

“I’ll have him right out, sir.”

“You’re giving me a known arsonist as help guarding a train full of dynamite?”

“No, you’re guarding the gold in the last car. The dynamite is just for continuing the tracks up ahead.”

“I think you’re missing the point.”

“He’s a good hand with a gun and can manage a horse so well, you’d think he was train robber himself.”

Marco raised a brow. “Is he?”

Shanks continued without acknowledging his remark. “I’ve known him and his brother since they were knee high to a grasshopper.”

“That doesn’t answer the--”

“What’s all the noise about Shanks?” A young man entered the office, looking more than a bit disheveled from his time in hold up. His face was shadowed by the most absurd excuse for a hat Marco had ever seen and was dressed to ride, still in worn chaps from whenever they brought him in. His shirt was orange and covered in a black vest. He was buckling on a pair of twin pistols as he entered the room.

“Ace!” Shanks clapped the man on the back, grinning stupidly. “I’m deputizing you! Ain’t that splendid?”

“What? I’m grateful for what you’ve done for Luffy, but I don’t got any business being a deputy.”

“Better than jail!” Shanks laughed uproariously. His grin didn’t falter as he somehow shepherded both Marco and a protesting Ace towards the door.

“Your horse is right next to Marco’s. He knows where you’re going. Have fun, and remember if you don’t do a good job it’s back to hold up for you.”

“But you aren’t even bus--” The door slammed in their faces, the lock clicking decisively. They looked each other warily up and down, not moving from the door for a minute in silence before Ace sighed.

“There’s no getting out of whatever it is, so we may as well go along with it,” Ace said, then muttered almost too quietly to hear, “Damn drunkard.” He offered his hand to Marco. “I’m Ace.”

“Nice to meet you, I suppose. My name’s Marco, yoi.” He sighed as well. “Well, we might as well get going. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us.”

 

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

Ace paced the floor of his ship, bored out of his mind. He enjoyed being a cargo runner, and it led to plenty of adventures, but he hated all of the waiting. How could it possibly take so long to send someone to check that he brought the right goods, arrange the transfer, and pay him, so he could get back to adventuring? Sure, the ship he was docked to this time was the biggest he’d ever seen, but even so, it couldn’t take that long to get here.

“Inconsiderate, time-wasting, stuck-up idiots,” he muttered.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” a voice asked coolly. Ace barely managed to restrain an embarrassing shriek as he spun around to face the intruder. The blond man was just inside the door to the main living area of his ship, staring at him expressionlessly. A shiver ran down Ace’s spine. Not for one second did he buy the apathetic look; not when his instincts were screaming danger.

Ace chose to address the obvious problem first, proud of himself for his even tone. “Thatch, how the hell did he get in here?” He looked warily at the stranger, who quirked a brow at his dismissal. Ace would have sworn he was inwardly laughing at him.

“Well, you were so impatient and bored, so I thought it was best just to let him in.” Thatch managed to keep his serious tone but couldn’t prevent himself from laughing at his little prank. Ace groaned inwardly. The new artificial intelligence ships were wonderful for company when traveling long distances alone, like he often did, but he often wished Thatch had less of a sense of humor. At least when the joke was on him.

“Bastard,” Ace muttered, then turned to his guest, “You’re here to inspect the cargo?”

“Yes, finally.” The man smirked at him, and Ace fought off a blush. “I’m Marco, first mate of the Moby Dick.”

“Ace, captain of the most obnoxious ship in existence. I’m sorry about that.” Ace lowered his head in apology. Marco laughed, the sound running along Ace’s nerves. He relaxed a bit; though the feeling of violence kept in check was still there, for some reason he didn’t feel threatened. Ace grinned at Marco.

“So you have one of the new ships? I’ve heard they can be quite troublesome, yoi.”

“Most of the time Thatch and I get along great. He likes pranks though, and since it is just me...”

“Ah, I could see where that could be a problem, yoi.” Marco smiled at Ace, who caught himself staring into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen for a bit too long. He mentally shook himself out of it and cleared his throat.

“Anyway, the cargo is --”

“Ace, I’ve detected that your heart rate is unusually high. Are you feeling okay?” Again muffled laughter followed Thatch’s announcement. Ace flushed bright red, spinning to the cargo door before he could see Marco’s reaction to the obvious implication. He was going to chop the ship up and sell it for scrap parts.

“--right through here,” he ground out, “Thatch, you clearly are in need of a tune up. We’ll have to take you into the shop after this.” Feeling sure a trip to the dreaded mechanic would shut up his friend for at least a while, he led Marco to his order, still avoiding eye contact.

“We can just beam it over to you if you approve it, and --” A box suddenly slammed into Ace’s leg from the side, sending him sprawling into Marco. Marco hit the ground hard, Ace on top of him.

Ace vaguely heard Thatch mutter, “Strike!”, but he was too distracted by the fact that his face was now pressed in Marco’s groin. He tried to back up suddenly, only succeeding in tangling them up more and landing back in his same highly awkward position.

Thatch coughed over the speakers. “According to my data sources, this position means you two are about to mate. I’ll leave you two to it, though you should know human males are incapable of producing offspring together.” His snickers rang through the ship, as Ace raised his eyes slowly, dreading Marco’s reaction to all of this. Thatch had definitely taken it too far this time.

 


	20. Chapter 20

Ace wrapped his furs tighter around himself. It might be spring, and they might be moving to their summer hunting grounds, but in the mountain pass the air was still bitterly cold. He drifted to the back of the line, alert for any threat that might be foolish enough to try their luck with the Foosha tribe.

Shanks and Garp argued about something at the front, Shanks’s laughter echoing throughout the pass, while Makino tried to calm down Dadan, who was yelling at Luffy and Sabo for some misdeed or other. Ace grimaced in sympathy. He’d done well to escape that. Regardless of their seeming inattention, Ace had no doubts that they could handle anything the mountain threw at them, but it never hurt to be aware. Besides they were driving him crazy.

So while he told himself he was falling back to be a rear guard of sorts, he didn’t really expect to hear anything, but as soon as the chaos that was his family had faded to a background noise, he heard a desperate trumpeting noise. Curious, he looked longingly toward the sound. It had to be more interesting than trudging behind a bunch of insane people. Still, he really shouldn’t leave his family. They’d worry if he disappeared.

Ace glanced up to where Benn was attempting to prevent Garp and Shanks from getting into one of their “friendly” brawls, the entire village coming to a halt to watch the show and make bets. Seriously, how did they expect to get anywhere at this pace? Ace snorted. Who was he kidding? They’d never notice he was gone. The sound echoed mournfully through the pass one again.

He tried to signal Luffy and Sabo to slip off with him-- they were always up for an adventure-- but stopped when he saw Dadan still had them cornered. He met Sabo’s pleading gaze and felt a bit guilty as he slunk off towards the ridge that the sounds came from without them, but if the hag had them, there was nothing he could do. They’d be fine. Maybe.

Once over the ridge, he found a narrow passageway in the rock where the sound emanated from. Now that he was closer, he could tell it was a young, distraught mammoth, the trumpeting sound growing weaker even as Ace got closer.

Ace hesitated briefly, common sense warring with curiosity and empathy, but when the cries were suddenly cut off, he was already halfway through the crevice. It was just wide enough for his shoulders, occasionally making him twist to get by, but Ace hardly noticed as he rushed through it. He blinked when he came out into a narrow canyon, his eyes having to adjust from the dim passageway.

A low keening noise drew him further into the canyon, and he rounded the bend. The source of the noise was immediately obvious. The gully had narrowed here, and, with the recent thaw, snow and ice mixed with rocks of varying sizes had come crashing down. He immediately started climbing the slick, unstable pile, hoping the poor creature wasn’t underneath it all.  Once over the edge he saw a baby calf in a narrow alcove, the debris too steep and slick for him to climb.

There were obvious signs that the adults had tried to dig him out, but they must have eventually given up the futile effort and moved on. The calf was throwing himself at the wall of ice, crying desperately for his mother, and Ace felt his heart wrench at the sight, especially when the calf collapsed in an exhausted heap, utterly spent, still struggling to force himself to try once more, crying breathlessly to himself.

He slid down the other side without a second thought, looking around the small niche where the mammoth was stuck. Luckily water ran off here, so there was a pool of meltwater that took up most of the space. He cautiously approached the oblivious calf, trying not to startle him. He was far too small to do any serious damage to anyone but himself, but that was more what Ace was worried about, given that he dealt with his larger brethren all the time.

Despite his efforts, the calf remained unaware until Ace gently stroked his ear. He shot up in surprise, hope obvious at the tender gesture.

“Shh... little guy. It’s just me.” Ace chuckled as the mammoth visibly deflated. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here and back to mama. First, you got to drink some. I don’t know how long you’ve been stuck here, but you got to take care of yourself.”  

He coaxed and prodded the tired, annoyed mammoth, who wanted nothing to do with him if he wasn’t his mother and was quite peeved he took him from his goal, towards the water. When he stumbled into the water, the little mammoth perked up and began drinking hungerly.

“See, little guy? I know a thing or two.” Ace laughed as he slurped up water in his trunk, turning to examine the mammoth’s prison. He had some rope, and while the little guy was too heavy for him to lift up without Luffy and Sabo, he could rearrange the rocks and snow so they were less steep and keep the calf steady with a rope harness. From the signs left by the herd, they couldn’t be that far away, probably abandoning the calf less than half an hour ago. They could probably catch up, provided the calf didn’t tire out too easily.

A shower of cold water interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to the cheeky mammoth with a glare, only to receive another blast.

“Oh, you’d get it good if we weren’t in a hurry, brat. It’s far too cold for such games,” Ace said, not allowing any threat to slip into his tone. The poor thing was so unbelievably happy to have some company, ears wagging like mad. Ace sighed, unable to keep his scowl, and turned to level out the debris a bit.

He’d almost finished when he sensed something was wrong. Ace turned back toward the now dozing mammoth but saw nothing amiss. He drew his hunting knife and listened. Ace lunged just in time to prevent a sabertooth from pouncing on the calf from a ledge on the alcove wall, tackling it head on. It was stupid, he knew, but Ace couldn’t stand by and watch.

The cat was still lean from the winter months, probably desperate for food when he’d heard the mammoth cry, but still powerful enough to give Ace a problem. They wrestled on the ground, Ace slashing at it with his knife, but not scoring anything deep enough to dissuade the sabertooth. Claws bit into his chest, and he cried out, vaguely aware of the poor mammoth trumpeting again, this time in alarm.

Suddenly there was a burst of light, and all Ace could see was fire. The sabertooth released him and he lay there, stunned and panting. He sat bolt upright when he realized it had probably gone after the mammoth, which would be less trouble, only to see it frantically running away. A tall blond man, who was wielding a torch, stood over Ace, looked him over and reached out a hand to help him up.

Ace grasped the warm palm and allowed himself to be pulled up, grimacing at the sharp pain knifing into his chest. The man immediately pushed aside the tattered remains of his shirt, tearing most of it off and inspected his wound. It bled freely but was fairly shallow; it would leave a scar, but it was nothing to be too concerned about. He applied pressure with the shirt he’d forcibly removed, making Ace hiss in pain. Ace shuddered lightly when the man’s fingertips brushed across his chest.

“Umm... Thank you. For saving me. Not that I couldn’t have handled it. But you know, I...” Ace took a deep breath, making himself even more aware of the stranger’s hands firmly pressing against his chest. “Thank you. I’m Ace, by the way.”

“Marco,” he said, his smooth voice caressing along Ace’s senses, not looking up from his task, “Are you an idiot? Tackling a sabertooth in midair with only a knife is not something a brat like you should be doing.”

“I could have taken it!” Ace retorted, glowering at Marco.

“Were you trying to prove something stupid? Pride is not worth throwing your life away!” Marco said, before suddenly being bowled over by the little mammoth, who had taken their argument a bit seriously, trumpeting a challenge at Marco as he stood proudly in front of Ace. They stared in shock at him for a few moments in shock, before Ace burst out laughing at Marco, still gaping at the calf from the dirt.

When he finally got himself under control, Ace said, “It’s okay, little guy. He doesn’t mean any harm.” Ace pet him gently, and he smiled as the mammoth wrapped his trunk around his arm affectionately. Marco’s expression cleared, and he got up from the ground brushing himself off.

“You really are an idiot, yoi,” Marco stared at Ace in amazement, “You tackled a fully grown cat to save a mammoth.” Ace blushed.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said, ignoring the heat in his cheeks. Marco sighed.

“Fine, let’s get you fixed up. I passed the herd on the way here; we should be able to get him back if we hurry,” he said, and Ace was unable to hold back a grin at the implicit offer.

Somehow Marco managed to bandage him up in record time, despite a disgruntled mammoth doing his very best to nudge him away from Ace. He’d stopped trying to knock him over when Ace reprimanded him, but apparently nothing would prevent him from always being just in the way. Afterwards, Ace put on proper clothes, shivering in the chill air, aware of Maro’s careful watch as he eased his shirt on over his recently closed wound.

Ace was impressed that Marco never lost his temper with the calf, even when he kept tripping Marco up while they finished levelling out the rockslide enough for him to cross. They figured it would be easier on the calf than hoisting him up and less difficult with only the two of them on the slippery, unsteady pile.

Ace fashioned a quick harness, attaching it to his new friend with ease. The mammoth followed eagerly behind Ace, though it was obvious its energy was fading. He needed to be reunited with his mother quickly. They made it over the debris with little mishap, once it became obvious that Marco would not be allowed to touch the rope. Ace bit back a grin at the feisty actions of the calf.

“Something funny, brat?” Despite the fact that Marco looked completely impassive Ace could tell his patience was wearing a bit thin, as he watched their progress from the other side, where he’d fallen, admittedly gracefully, when the mammoth had made his objections known a bit forcefully.

“No, of course not,” Ace said, struggling to keep his amusement out of his tone as they made their way down the otherside and failing miserably. Marco shook his head, chuckling slightly, a warm sound.

It was a difficult trek, the little mammoth, struggling to keep up as his strength flagged. Just as Ace was sure his mission would end in tragedy, Marco smiled at him, pointing out the mammoths headed toward them. Ace untied the calf quickly, causing the exhausted mammoth to look up. He must have caught scent of his mother, for he trumpeted enthusiastically and took off toward the herd, stumbling in his rush.

The sound caught the attention of the others, who took up the call, one rushing ahead of the others to greet the baby with ecstatic sounds, checking him all over with her trunk. Ace smiled at the sight, glad he had taken off to find out the source of the noise. He met Marco’s eyes, seeing his own joy reflected in them, and grinned, warmth spreading through him when the stoic man smiled in return.

“Do you have a place to go, yoi?” Marco asked suddenly.

“Oh, yeah, I really should catch up! Sabo might get worried soon.” Ace looked up at the position of the sun, wincing when he saw it was past midday. “We’re taking the pass to the East side, but I got bored and found the calf and...”

“I see.” Ace told himself firmly he was imagining the hint of disappointment in Marco’s voice.

“Are you around here often?” Ace asked, trying to act nonchalant. Since Marco smiled at him, he probably failed.

“My family lives in a small valley on the west side of the pass, so often enough.”

“Oh, maybe I’ll see you again sometime,” Ace said airily, watching the calf suckle hungrily, “I really have to go now.”

“I’ll go with you. Your tribe can stay with us for the night. It gets dangerous up here.”

The herd moved off again, the calf happily scampering around his mother, and Ace watched as he tried to imagine what could possibly be dangerous when all of their village was together and once again found himself restraining a laugh. “They’ll probably agree. They do love a party.”

“Let’s get going then, yoi.” The warmth in Marco’s smile kept the cold at bay all the way back to where Shanks and Garp were still fighting, not having moved an inch since Ace had left.

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

Ace’s ragged breath sounded painfully loudly in the dismal forest as he ran with all his might, dodging trees and brush to the best of his abilities. If he wasn’t a logia user, he’d be covered in cuts and bruises from the thorns that dug into his skin when he was less than successful at dodging. He was dying to look behind him for signs of pursuit, but Ace knew that even the slightest hesitation would lead to capture. The sounds of the hunter hounded him, leaving him no doubt he was the chosen prey.

He’d welcomed the chase focusing on him, the challenge of being the first targeted, but he saw now his pride would lead only to a bittersweet end if he wasn’t careful. How could he have been so foolish to believe he could win, even daring to think he could keep attention on him allowing the others to slip away? Ace shook off such useless thoughts. He had made his decision, and he would not regret the choice to sacrifice himself to get time for his brothers to escape. He would see this to the end.

Still, he didn’t know how much longer he could make it. His lungs were burning: he’d been sprinting for miles, the ocean and its freedom far behind him now, the towering trees sentinel to his futile attempts to escape his fate. Nonetheless, Ace couldn’t give up here. He refused to give in to the inevitable so easily. A piercing call came from behind him, making him stumble in surprise. Was it really over so soon? He refused to just lie down and wait for the end.

He halted in his mad dash, putting his back to a tree to make himself as inconspicuous as possible, gasping for air as his heart pounded in his ears. Ace needed to find a hiding place, now, or it would be over already. He couldn’t face his family or Luffy if he gave himself up this easily. A glance around the clearing gave him new hope. One of the fallen trees nearby had a hollow big enough for him to squeeze into underneath the root system.

It would leave him cornered, but he was running out of time, the shrill cries drawing nearer with each gulp of air he dragged in. He let his precious hat, the hat Luffy had given him, fall back, hoping it would be less eye catching if it was lower down and began frantically trying to erase signs that he had been here. The trail would still lead to him, but at least he had a chance if his pursuer thought he’d taken to the trees or found some other way to destroy his tracks.

Ace dove into his his hiding spot, trying to calm his frantic heartbeat, knowing if he was heard it would be it for him. He held his breath, hoping he could slow it before it was too late and his panting got him caught. The sounds cut off abruptly. The hunterHe must be near and trying the hide his position from Ace as he stalked him.

It wasn’t long before his leg started to fall asleep, the awkward position he had caught himself in making Ace long to move. The noise, however slight, would surely attract attention though, so he gritted his teeth and ignored it. The small space seemed to shrink as he waited, adrenaline still pumping through his system.

Ace did not like running, waiting, or hiding, but this was not a game that could be won through open challenges and brashness. An almost imperceptible noise drew his attention immediately. He was near. Ace froze and let his eyes close, realizing there was nothing left for him to do, letting out his breath in defeat. At least he had tried, making it farther than he thought possible.

“Found you.”

Ace opened his eyes to meet Marco’s amused gaze and sighed.

“Yeah, yeah, back up so I can get out of this forsaken hole in the ground,” Ace said, not bothering to wait until Marco had moved before crawling out into Marco’s lap. It was more convenient this way. He kissed Marco, open-mouthed, pulling back when he got lightheaded before he lost his breath all over again.

“You could have just let me catch you, yoi. Now we can go find the others together.” He paused, absentmindedly tracing designs on Ace’s bare back. “Or we could just leave them in whatever holes they managed to crawl into and have a bit of fun.”

“No, we can have fun later. Right now, I need revenge. Whose idea was this stupid game again?” Ace asked, scowling,  “I blame them for having to shove myself into there. Aren’t we all a bit old for hide and seek?”

“It was Thatch’s of course.” Marco smirked at the predatory look on Ace’s face. He shook his head, standing up and taking an unresisting Ace with him. “I heard his girly scream off to the West.”

Ace grinned, settling his hat properly on his head, grabbing Marco’s hand and pulling him along.

“Let’s go give him something to scream about.”

 

 


	22. Chapter 22

The beach was deserted when Marco decided to take one last walk along the shore. It was October already, and his breath fogged in the chilly air as he meandered  in the freezing sand. This was his favorite time to be at the beach, when there was nothing to distract from the beauty of the ocean but lights from the other cottages flanking the coast.

He hadn’t gone far when a noise disturbed the serene sound of the waves lapping the sand, but he was unable to make out the source of the quiet muttering in the dark. Curious, he quickened his pace, and a silhouette emerged from the shadows shrouding the shore. It was clearly a person, and they appeared to be quite upset from the way they kicked at the sand.

Marco approached cautiously, unsure why he didn't just skirt them and continue his walk, but he mentally shrugged. He was sure he could take care of himself, and the person (young man, he thought) clearly was in need of a listening ear.

“Are you alright?” Marco asked just loud enough to be heard over the waves. The moon was almost half full, and even up close to the man, Marco could barely make him out. The man whirled around, startled, and Marco noted that he automatically went into a fighting stance. Interesting. When Marco just stood a few meters away, hands casually in his pockets, the other man, relaxed his guard and sighed.

“Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. Don’t worry about it.” His voice skittered along Marco’s nerves, rich and self assured, particularly for someone as young as he was. He couldn’t have been past his early twenties, and Marco would guess on the lower range of that. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which given how brisk it was outside made Marco raise a brow.

“I’m pretty sure that people who are fine, don’t run out of the house half naked in October to curse and kick sand,” Marco said, letting humor take the bite out of his words. He sat down, making sure he was out of range of the waves, and patted the ground invitingly. “I’m Marco.”

The man looked at him dubiously, but sat on the ground, close enough that barely an inch separated their knees. “Ace.”

Marco decided that the only reason to sit so close to a stranger was for warmth and slipped off his jacket, tossing over Ace’s shoulders. He was warm from his walk anyway and had a long sleeved shirt on under it anyway. Ace reflexively pulled it closer as he opened his mouth to protest, but, surprisingly, he closed it when Marco shook his head.

“Want to talk about it?” Marco asked. Ace shook his head, and Marco tried not to notice how he looked with Marco’s jacket wrapped around him. It was only a little too big, but it was enough to be obvious that it wasn’t Ace’s coat.

“it’s nothing,” Ace said, and Marco waited silently. “It’s just that my dad just brought my mom and me here for some quality family time together when he never is home.” Marco mouth twitched as the story poured out, happy that Ace decided to talk. “He’s never there for us, and we’re supposed to be happy he’d thrown us a bone or whatever, and now they’re both mad at me for not being properly grateful he’s deigning to spend a weekend with us.”  Ace pulled his knees to his chest, resting his head on top.

“That must be frustrating.”

“Yeah, but I should have handled it better.” Ace paused and sat up, grinning up at Marco. Marco swallowed, suddenly finding his mouth dry. “Or at least put on a shirt.” He laughed, and Marco thought he had never heard a more perfect laugh. “Thank you, Marco.”

They were suddenly closer than Marco remembered, and he found his gaze drawn to Ace’s mouth. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You listened.” Ace’s voice was a bit breathless, and Marco’s head was spinning. He pulled back and stood up, leaving Ace blinking on the sand. What was wrong with him? He knew nothing about Ace’s preferences, Ace was in emotional distress, and he was practically a kid. Kissing him would be wrong on so many levels. Marco shook his head, and smiled shakily at Ace.

“I have to go now, but it was nice to meet you.” Without waiting for Ace’s reply, Marco sped off, turning off the beach in case Ace tried to follow. He realized that he had left his jacket with Ace when he got back to their cottage. He ruthlessly shoved down the part of him that hoped Ace would wear it when he couldn’t return it and finished up packing before turning in for the night.

* * *

 

When Ace had lost sight of Marco, he begrudgingly trudged home, well wrapped up in Marco’s warm jacket. He’d been sure that Marco had been about to kiss him, and Ace cursed whatever had spooked him. He hadn’t even had a chance to get more than his first name before Marco had run off.

He snuck back upstairs without seeing either of his parents and flopped on the bed, breathing in the scent from the jacket. Ace sighed. There was little chance of finding him again since almost everyone on the beach was just visiting. They were leaving tomorrow afternoon anyway, so Ace could be back in time for school the following day. That didn’t exactly give Ace a whole lot of time to find Marco.

Ace sighed again and took off the jacket. He wasn’t sure Marco would want to see him, but the least he could do would be to return his coat. He checked the pockets quickly, dismayed when there was only a scrawled piece of paper with a phone number on it.

Ace grimaced, glaring at the crumpled piece of paper.  There was no reason to think it’d be Marco’s: he wasn’t that lucky, and there was no reason for Marco to carry around his own phone number. Still, he’d try it in the morning. Maybe whoever’s it was would know a way to contact Marco.

Ace fell asleep smiling, the coat still wrapped around him.

 

* * *

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to call until after class on Monday since Rouge was more than a bit annoyed about his outburst and stole his phone while he was sleeping. She didn’t give it back until the end of the trip, so they could spend quality time together. Ace couldn’t quite believe his mom was still stealing his phone, but he knew better than to argue with her when she was in that mood.

He’d dialed the number, but found himself just staring at the call button. Ace was sure the other person would have nothing to do with Marco. He’d already googled the number and found nothing, so hopefully it wasn’ta Chinese restaurant or anything. Though maybe it would be good Chinese food. It was the same area code as his, so at least he could get some takeout. Ace shook his head and pressed the call button.

It rang only once before it was picked up.

“Hello?” Ace’s heart dropped. He knew it wouldn’t be Marco, but he couldn’t quite crush the small hope that he might pick up.

“Umm... hi, I have no idea who you are, but I found this number in a jacket I borrowed, and I wondered if you might know how I could get it back to Marco?”

There was a beat of silence on the other end, and Ace shifted uncomfortably.

“So, he did give it to some hot piece of ass. I was right! Izo’s going to have to pay up.” The man on the other end laughed jovially.

“Um... I don’t think-”

“Nonsense, Marco doesn’t get that moody for no reason, kid.” He laughed again. “I’m Thatch, Marco’s brother. What’s your name?”

“Ace.” Ace was a bit baffled by Thatch, but he couldn’t help but grin at his good humor. Marco’s brother seemed pretty cool.

“Now, I could just give you his phone number, but you and I both know there’s no fun in that. Do you have a pen and paper handy?” Ace hummed in affirmation.

“Good,” Thatch said. “You have a local number, so here’s his address. Stop by anytime after six tonight, okay?” Ace grinned. “I won’t tell him you’re coming, and it’s all up to you from there, kid.” Thatch snorted. “Trust it to Marco to find someone on the beach, give them his coat, and run away to sulk about it. He’s so lucky to have me.” Ace laughed and agreed.

“Oh, and can you meet Izo n’ me for breakfast tomorrow and tell us all about it? Great! Meet us at my restaurant at eight? Bonus points if you bring Marco. Hmmm... nevermind that he needs a steady relationship, you hear?” Ace sputtered, and he knew he was blushing, but he wrote down the address of the restaurant. Free food was free food, after all.

Ace heard someone yell Thatch’s name. “Okay, talk to you later Ace.Good luck!”

Ace stared down at the phone in bafflement. He was not sure exactly what had just happened, but he couldn’t stop grinning. Marco sure had a fun brother. He glanced at the clock and realized it was going to be a long couple of hours before he left.

 

* * *

 

Marco was puzzled when the doorbell rang. He’d just spent the whole weekend with his brothers, and he couldn’t think of anyone else who’d be here at this time. Still, he got up and opened the door.

His mouth dropped in shock, and Marco found himself at a loss for words. Ace was on his doorstep. Ace was on his doorstep wearing his coat. As he stared in shock, Ace fidgeted, shifting from foot to foot.

“Hi, Marco. Um... I came to return your jacket?” Ace said. When Marco couldn’t form coherent words, he pressed on awkwardly. “It’s really weird that I’m at your house. I promise I am not a stalker. Okay, well, I did kind of find out where you lived from calling a number in your pocket, and Thatch is nice. Weird but nice. I’m having breakfast with him tomorrow, and I don’t really know why or how that happened. He said you could come too.”

Ace flushed, and his gaze shot to Marco. “Not to imply... Well, he did imply, but that’s not not what I meant to imply-” Ace sighed and smiled up at him. “Hi, Marco.”

Marco smiled, and he pulled Ace inside, shutting the door against the cold air. “You came to return it, but you’re still wearing it.” Ace’s blush deepened, and he muttered something about how it was colder out than he’d expected.

“Want to stay for dinner? It’s just pasta, but you’re welcome to stay.” Ace’s face lit up, and Marco thought he was too old to feel this dizzy because of a smile.

“I’d love to!" Ace's smile wiped away the last of Marco's concerns as he lead the way to the kitchen.  

* * *

Ace stopped in front of the deserted restaurant and checked that he had the right address. He'd told Marco all about his conversation with Thatch, unsure whether he ought to meet him today or not. Marco had rolled his eyes but told him it was up to him.

    Thatch had sounded fun, and Ace was never one to turn down free food, so he made his way to the address Thatch had given him. He didn't have class until noon today anyway, and he'd left Marco's house pretty early.

   Ace grinned to himself. They'd just eaten dinner and watched some crime drama, but he'd never enjoyed a date more.  They hadn't quite cuddled on the couch, but they'd sat close enough that Ace had felt Marco's warmth surround him. When the show was over, Ace had helped with the dishes and then Marco walked him out.

     Marco had brushed a kiss across his lips when he'd turned to say goodbye. Ace had deepened the kiss, clinging to Marco as he found himself wrapped in Marco’s arms. When he'd finally walked home, Ace hadn't missed the coat he'd left with its proper owner since he’d been pretty sure he’d never be cold again.

Luckily it had warmed up today, so he didn’t have to test that out or where one of his own jackets, which had somehow all become less than satisfactory. Marco’d texted him this morning, telling him that he wouldn’t be able to meet him here today, and Ace couldn’t even bring himself to be that disappointed because it meant Marco had texted him.

Suddenly the door to the restaurant was thrown open, and a man wearing chef’s whites burst out of the door.

“C’mon kid, are you just going to stand there forever? Let’s eat.” Before Ace could respond, Thatch (he hoped at least) had pulled him into the warmth of the restaurant. Delcious smells wafted from the kitchen, which, by the noise, was bustling. Ace had barely anytime to look around at the deserted restaurant with Thatch propelling him rapidly towards the only occupied table in the room, the most beautiful man Ace had ever seen looking up from the paper and raising a brow.

“Ace is here, Izo!” Thatch said, grinning as he ushered Ace to a chair.

“Did you even ask before you dragged the poor boy in here?” Thatch blinked then shot a suspicious glance at Ace before laughing as he sat himself. .

“No one else would be standing outside, Izo. It is hours before we open for lunch after all.” They both turned to Ace in unison, looking at him expectantly.

“I’m Ace,” Ace said, grinning at Thatch’s exaggerated relief. Izo swatted him on the shoulder.

“Make sure next time, idiot! I mean, it is obvious that it is Ace: he’s completely Marco’s type, but it’s not like you would know that,” Izo said, making Ace blink. Thatch pouted and started uncovering all of the covered dishes on the table, revealing just about every breakfast dish Ace could think of. Ace stared in awe, trying to not obviously drool and make a fool of himself. Thatch looked away and scratched the back of his head.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I pretty much made anything that came to mind. I hope you’re hungry because Izo will only eat oatmeal or something probably.”

“I’m always hungry, and I like anything!” Ace dropped all pretenses of being suave and began loading up the plate Thatch handed him, making sure to take some of everything.

Thatch grinned as Ace dug in. “I like you, kid.” He gestured to Ace, looking at Izo, who was looking somewhere between shocked and queasy. Ace was used to that reaction, but he slowed slightly, remembering this was Marco’s family. “Now that is how you’re supposed to eat breakfast.”

Izo hummed. “I think I’ll pass.” He turned to Ace. “So did you sleep with Marco?” Izo ignored Ace nearly choking on apricot cream-cheese stuffed french toast and Thatch balancing. “He’s been going through a dry spell, and it’d be nice if he were a little less crabby.”

Thatch managed to collect himself before Ace managed to catch his breath. “Izo, you can’t just ask that!”

“Of course I can. I just did.” Izo smirked, watching their reactions with smug amusement radiating off of him.

“I don’t want to know that! I don’t want to know anything relating to Marco and...” Thatch garbled something but couldn’t seem to form the words. “Just no!”

Ace finally managed to swallow the french toast, but before he could reply, Izo beat him to it.

“Well, you were the one who gave Ace his address and told him when to go over instead of giving him Marco’s number. You could have just given Ace’s number to Marco. Then you invited him here. Why else did you invite him?” Izo paused to take a sip of his coffee. “I have to say, I’m very proud.”

“We had dinner and then-” Ace started, but stopped when Thatch held up a hand.

“Nope. We are finishing this wonderful meal in complete silence. I need to cleanse my brain,” Thatch said, and they did just that, much to Ace’s amusement. Every so often Izo would start to say something, but Thatch was having none of it. It had to be one of the more bizarre meals Ace had had, and he was sad to have to leave. When he stood up, Izo had slipped him a piece of paper and mouthed “call me”, distracting Thatch by insulting the food.

Ace left the restaurant to head for class, laughing at Izo and Thatch still whispering heatedly in the background. His phone buzzed, and Ace felt strangely giddy at Marco remembering to ask him if he needed rescuing despite the meeting he’d had to go to that morning.

And to think, he hadn’t wanted to go to the beach.

 

 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the last of the older ones! Finally they're all up here xD

"Now that dinner is done, what do you think about dessert?" Marco asked, catching Ace around the waist from behind when the dishes were done and kissing up his throat.

Ace moaned as Marco bit the shell of his ear lightly, and he turned and slid his hands teasingly up under Marco's shirt before pulling it off.

"Well, I have some chocolate cake. One sec," Ace said, and Marco gaped as he was left so Ace could go rummage in the pantry; he really was going to eat cake now?

Marco sat down on the table, laughing at himself- he really should have known better by now than to mention food- and Ace came back in triumphantly holding a pastry box with a gleam in his eyes.

He strode across the room and caught Marco's lips, one hand pressing him back until Marco was nearly lying on the table, and Marco had just about forgotten the damn cake when it was suddenly smeared all over his chest and stomach; Marco gasped at the sensation and was about to protest, but he froze when he saw the look in Ace’s eyes as he lowered his head to hover above Marco’s stomach and licked his lips.

Ace meandered around Marco’s skin in no particular path, Marco’s skin twitching as Ace delicately nibbled the chocolate cake before licking up any frosting that remained.

Fire flooded through his veins, and his hips jerked up at Ace’s slow pace: Marco was sure that he’d go mad from the sweet torture as Ace slowly lapped up cake, deliberately skirting the areas that screamed for his touch.

He was already panting and writhing, cursing his loss of self control, when Ace finally deigned to lavish attention on one of his nipples and brought up a knee to tease his cock, which was straining against his jeans.

Marco whined when Ace withdrew to look down at him once he’d cleaned Marco, licking frosting from his lips and smirking in a way that would have left Marco breathless if he wasn’t already having trouble.

“You look so good like that, Marco, all laid out on the table for me,” Ace said, his voice far deeper than usual, and it sent sparks straight to Marco’s groin, “It makes me hungry all over again.”  

Marco opened his mouth- whether to protest or to beg for more he wasn’t sure- but Ace muffled him with an intense kiss, all teeth and tongues and heat, before he could find coherent words.

Ace had managed to get Marco’s jeans off without him noticing, and Marco moaned into the kiss as Ace gripped his dick firmly in one hand, fingering the head lightly.

They broke apart, and Marco’s head was spinning so much he almost didn’t notice when Ace reached into the pastry box once again, muttering about how he’d known that getting extra frosting was a good idea, and smeared copious amounts of frosting on Marco’s cock, unheeding of what fell on the floor.

Marco shuddered at the feeling of the cold frosting on his erection and tried to hold on to his sanity as Ace dropped to his knees in front of him, looking at his dick as if it were the more extravagant of desserts; it took every bit of self control Marco had left not to throw his head back so he could watch as Ace swirled his tongue around the tip of his cock, the heat of his mouth contrasting with the cool frosting.

The pace was still slow enough to make Marco squirm in an attempt to keep from fucking Ace’s mouth, but he restrained himself as much as possible, wanting to let Ace have his way; Ace chuckled lightly, the vibrations shooting pleasure through Marco, who moaned as sensations flooded him.

“Marco, you taste so good,” Ace said as he licked off the last of the frosting, and Marco was embarrassed by how close he was when Ace had yet to even properly suck him, but the constant teasing and delicious sounds Ace made were almost too much.

He gasped out Ace’s name, the most coherent begging he could manage, and Ace smiled up at him, expression soft, then finally, finally took him all in, sucking and moaning around the cock in his mouth, and it was an embarrassingly short time before Marco shuddered, moaning out Ace’s name as Ace swallowed every bit of his come.

“I had no idea you had such a sweet tooth, Marco” Ace said eventually, and Marco could hear the grin in his voice, as he dragged himself up from the table where he’d collapsed and glared down at Ace, deciding as he scooped a rather willing Ace off the ground and tossed him over his shoulder to take him to their shower (there was still frosting all over both of them, after all) that Ace had on far too many clothes.

  
  
  



	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the lovely booksnob, who requested a fake realtionship au forever ago (sorry!!).

Ace collapsed into the chair he normally occupied when visiting Marco with a groan.

“Are you okay, Ace? You sounded upset on the phone.” Marco came in with a tray and set cups of coffee down between them like he habitually did when he had company. Ace met his concerned eyes and had to force back tears. He probably shouldn’t have come here until he’d calmed down. His first thought was he needed to see Marco, though, and here he was.

“I just don’t know what to do, so I came here, but I shouldn’t bother you with this. I’m sorry. I’ll go home now and tell you later.” Ace made as if to get up, but his hopes of escape were crushed when Marco caught his wrist and firmly pushed him back in the chair.

“Tell me now, and we’ll figure it out together.” Marco leaned forward, his eyes intent on Ace’s, causing a fluttering to erupt in Ace’s stomach.

Ace swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “Well, you see, my grandpa is getting me, and therefore Luffy since I have custody, deported back to Brazil if I don’t join the Marines. Apparently he has enough clout to do that or something.”

“He’s just going to rip you away from where you’ve grown up and all your friends?” Marco made as if to get up, but he settled when Ace held up a hand.

“No, he knows we’d- that I’d never leave everyone and tear Luffy away from his friends and school.” Ace sighed and rested his head on his hands. “He knows I’d join the Marines if i came down to it.” Marco’s hand twitched where it rested on the low coffee table between them. He knew exactly how little Ace wanted to join the Marines.

Ace looked up and smiled at him, trying to wash away the worry he saw clearly in Marco’s eyes, but he must not have done a good job for the worry only deepened. The ticking of Marco’s kitchen clock kept time from the other room as the stared down at their untouched coffee in silence.

“There’s no other way?”

“Not besides moving back to Brazil, and I would miss everyone too much, not to mention what that’d do to Luffy.” Ace smiled. “Thank you. It’s much clearer now. I can get him to lay off of Luffy about the Marines too if I join.”

“What about getting married? He couldn’t deport you then. You’ve been dating that Law kid for a while.” Ace thought back to the last time he and Law had met up and flushed.

“We’re not exactly dating, Marco.”

“But...” Marco’s eyes widened in comprehension, and Ace could have sworn there was a hint of a blush on his cheeks. “Oh.”

“He’s not one for commitment. We just have fun sometimes.” Ace laughed, imagining Law’s face if he were to propose randomly. Wouldn’t that be a sight? “I wouldn’t want to marry him even if he’d be willing to help me out.”

“Oh.” Marco was silent for a minute, and Ace’s mind began whirling with the thought of becoming a Marine.

“We could get married.” Marco said, and Ace froze, roaring filling his ears as his heart sped up so much it felt like it would beat out of his chest.

“Wha- what?’ Ace managed, almost choking on the work as it came out.

“Of course we’ve never been...” Ace watched in fascination as red crept into Marco’s cheeks unmistakably this time, tinting them ever so slightly, and Marco coughed, trying to cover up his discomfiture. “What I mean to say is-” Ace’s heart sunk, and he forced another smile.

“I know you don’t like me like that, Marco.” Ace laughed, hoping Marco was embarrassed enough not to notice how fake it sounded. The words had been startlingly hard to get out, and Ace suppressed a frown

“We’d just have to live together until the old man cools down, yeah? I doubt he’ll press it to the three years it would take to get a green card,” Marco said. “It couldn’t be that hard, right?” Ace’s  throat tightened, and he looked down at the abandoned cup of coffee, knowing it would be perfectly sweetened despite how it made Marco cringe at the amount of sugar.

“You’d have to stop your whatever with Law though,” Marco said, and Ace laughed, feeling a bit strange for some reason. Ending things with Law shouldn't make him this happy, he liked Law, and they got on well enough when they actually talked.

“If I agree, and I do mean if, you’d have to promise me if you found someone, you’d not hesitate to tell me. You deserve happiness as much as I do, more so really.” Marco scoffed and brushed it off with a casual promise when Ace glared, but Ace knew better.

Marco wouldn’t do that, no matter what he said. Ace knew Marco, and if he agreed to this crazy scheme, Marco would not even look at other properly all because of their sham of a marriage. He couldn’t do that to Marco. Marco deserved happiness more than anyone else.

“No, I can’t do this: this is ridiculous.” Ace scowled at the unoffending coffee. What right did he have to turn Marco’s life upside down? There had to be another way, one that would only cost him. Maybe if he joined the Marines, he could convince Garp to leave Luffy be. If everyone could be happy but him, that would be enough.

The warmth of Marco’s hand on his knee had Ace’s eyes shoot up to meet Marco’s. His gaze held nothing but enough affection to make Ace feel like he’d been wrapped up in a blanket on a chilly morning. He smiled genuinely this time, and while it was not perhaps as exuberant as his usual, seeing the expression mirrored on Marco’s face was all he could ask.

“It will be okay, Ace.” The words hung in the silent room, and he found himself nodding, Marco’s warm gaze, completely focused on him, distracting him from his better judgement.

“Okay, how long do we have? Do you think you can fend him off for two weeks?”

“Yeah, my deadline was the end of the month, so we’ve got... what three weeks?” Marco’s smile grew, and Ace was increasingly conscious that Marco’s hand was still on his knee, burning against his bare skin, his thumb stroking lightly while Marco appeared deep in thought.

“Perfect. We can get the license tomorrow. I’ll talk to Pops tonight-- we’ll not be able to hide it from him-- and you can sort out your... thing with Law. Or do you need more time? Since Pops is a retired judge, he can marry us and probably smooth things over if we need a rush.”

Ace swallowed. “I don’t need more time for Law, but how will everyone react?” Marco’s smile tried to brush away his worries, and Ace had to fight not to just accept. “We’ll have to make it believable to everyone but Pops for it to work.”.

“Well, we’re together enough.” Marco shrugged and his expression darkened, weariness slinking into his tone. “Trust me, they won’t find it as out of left field as you would think.”

Ace was quiet, and Marco sat back suddenly, leaving Ace missing the reassuring warmth from his hand. “You don’t have to agree though, Ace,” Marco said. “If you’d rather not, I understand.”

Something in his tone or the smile that seemed almost forced had Ace grinning reassuringly. “I’m just worried about you. You don’t need to sacrifice so much for me.”

“Trust me,” Marco said, “helping you is never a sacrifice.” Marco grinned at him, and Ace wasn’t quite sure what about it made his heart beat faster. “Will you marry me, Ace?” His tone was deeper than normal, but Ace brushed it off, biting his lip as he thought it over.

“What the hell? Yes, I’ll marry you, Marco. Thank you.”

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure about this, Marco?” Whitebeard asked. “It’s not going to be easy.”

Marco laughed, and even to him it sounded empty. “No, it won’t be easy, but it’d be harder to be without him forever or seeing him be miserable. If he can be happy, that’s all I want.”

Whitebeard hummed and gave him the look that made Marco could feel like he could see everything, every childhood misdeed, every stupid drunken mistake, every thought he’d had about Ace, and Marco sighed when he nodded. “If that’s how you feel Marco, I wish you the best of luck. You’re not young enough for me to tell you what to do anymore, but be careful. I would hate to see either of you two hurt.”

Marco nodded, and really, he had to deal with his annoying feelings for Ace all the time anyway. Living together and pretending to be happily married to the world  would just be another step or two more difficult. Honestly, it would be nice to spend more time with him. Ace had made it clear that he was only interested in friendship long ago, and Marco truly enjoyed their friendship. He wouldn’t let his feelings get in the way of that.

“You’d better call, Izo though. He’ll be thrilled to have a wedding to plan, and Thatch will want time to plan the food.”

Marco groaned and accepted the phone Whitebeard held out, glaring him as he chuckled to himself at his son’s predicament.

* * *

 

Just as Ace had suspected Law had shrugged it off, though he was a bit put out by his “it’s about time” comment. Whatever, it had just been for a bit of fun anyway. Luffy had been a little more difficult to convince, and Ace hadn’t even bother trying to fake that. Luffy would know instantly if he’d tried to pretend. Strangely he’d calmed down as soon as he’d seen Marco the next time, and was now even more enthusiastic than Ace, who was still a bit lost as to how all this was happening.

Sabo was his last hurdle since Marco had taken care of his family, and Ace had only had to deal with an insistent Izo asking about little details and dragging him off for fittings. Sabo had merely raised a brow and asked him if he was sure. He no doubt also knew the reason for the rush, but he was far more accepting of it than Ace had suspected he would be.

He and Luffy were downright excited for him as the day approached far too quickly, and Ace was a bit bewildered to find himself sitting at his own bachelor party, the wedding scheduled for the next morning. Sabo had planned the night, just the three of them, and they went to Makino’s bar where she fussed over him, and Dadan pretended she wasn’t going to come the next day, and it suddenly hit Ace after the third beer that tomorrow he was getting married. To Marco.

“Shit, I love him, and he’s just doing me a favor,” Ace said. “This is going to be too hard. What was I thinking? I’m such an idiot.”

Sabo and Luffy traded looks, and Ace glared at them. “What?” he asked, and Luffy laughed, slinging an arm around his shoulders, Sabo smirking at him like he always did when he thought Ace was being particularly stupid.

“Whitebeard is really powerful, right?” Sabo asked, and Ace nodded consideringly. “He could stop Garp almost surely, but instead of telling you to do that, Marco asked you to marry him.”

“So? Maybe he wanted to be sure.”

“He looooves you!” Luffy sang, and Ace just gaped at him.

“Sure, it’s the most foolproof way, but you belong to one of the most powerful families in the city, Ace. Garp couldn’t really force your hand unless you let him.” Sabo grinned. “You two just have to dance around each other, don’t you?”

Ace thought about it, back to when Marco had stumbled across him and Law making out at that party, to how Marco always was there, to how well Marco remembered every bit about him, and cursed loudly. “I’m an idiot,” he said, slumping over the bar to rest his head in his arms. “This is why everyone was totally okay with us getting engaged? Everyone knew?”

Luffy snickered. “Yep!” Ace felt a sharp poke in his ribs and looked up to glare at Luffy. “But you can figure that out later. Tonight’s a party, remember?”  

 

* * *

 

Hours later, Ace curled up in his bed, far from sober, his brothers snoring in the other room, and pulled out his phone, staring down it at as if it held all the answers. He shrugged and dialed because really, there was only one chance left before it was forced. Marco picked up on the fourth rings, and Ace felt a pang of guilt at his sleep-roughened hello.

“Marco? Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I figured Thatch and Izo and the others would still have you out,” Ace said, cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he slipped under the covers and burrowed into his pillow.

“Hmmm... No, though I think they’re still out. Gave them the slip in the second bar.” His voice was still laden with sleep, and Ace’s heart clenched a bit, a soft smile curling his lips.

“I’ll let you go back to sleep then. It wasn’t important.”

“Liar,” Marco said, and Ace chuckled. “Tell me.”

“I guess... I wanted to tell you I loved you once before we got married. Because I do, so much, and for years, and I know it’s weird because no matter what Sabo and Luffy think you don’t love me-- at least not like that-- and I really appreciate you doing this but-”

“Ace?” Ace stopped, stunned at raw emotion in Marco’s voice. “Say that again?”

“That I really appreciate you doing this for me?” Ace asked lightly, not even sure where he was finding the courage to tease now of all times. The growl that answered him reverberated in his chest, sparks dancing in his stomach.

“I love you, Marco.” Ace chuckled, tension escaping him at the soft words. “I’ve loved you for years. Marrying you... it’s surreal. I’ve wanted to be with you for so long.”

“I love you too, Ace.” The words were said breathlessly, and amusement crept into his tone as he continued. “Now, how drunk are you?”

“Very.”

“Then we’re going to have to continue this conversation later. You should get some sleep.” Ace whined in protest, and Marco sighed, somehow managing to sound fond as he did so. “We’ll have all the time in the world for the rest after all.”

“I don’t know, did you see the room Izo booked us for our honeymoon? I don’t think we’ll be talking much, at least not at first if I have my way. We’ve got a lot to make up for.” The silence on the other end had Ace shuffling in bed, wondering if he’d gone too far. He’d not meant to say anything, but his tongue was a little loose.

Finally Marco let out shuddered breath, and Ace twisted in bed, wishing he could feel Marco’s warmth up against him. “Good night, Ace. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Want and need curled in his voice, and Ace hummed, annoyed that his eyelids were drifting closed when there was such promise in Marco’s voice.

“Night, Marco. Love you,” he murmured, and he smiled to himself in the darkness of his room. They might have taken a long time to figure things out, but he just knew that when he saw Marco’s eyes light up when the service started, when he made Marco gasp and shudder and beg, when they argued about whose turn it was to cook, it would be perfect. Everything that life threw at them, they'd face it together.

Starting with that scandalous looking bathtub in the room Izo had booked for them.

 

 


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for Lolle, for a prompt they sent me forever ago and probably won't remember. Hope you enjoy!

“Watch it, punk!”

Ace scowled at the middle-aged man that had run straight into him-- he’d been stopped waiting for a light, dammit--, and the man blanched from the collar of his expensive coat to his pathetic combover. He muttered a quick apology and skirted around Ace gingerly. Ace smirked. They were all pushovers in this part of town: a leather jacket and a bit of attitude and they crumpled like a paper house for all their high and mighty attitudes.

He hated coming up to this part of town, but Sabo’s school was up here, and that idiot had forgotten his train pass again. It was a long walk home, and it was already growing dark. While Ace had no doubts Sabo could take care of himself, he felt better if he were there to watch his back. Not that he’d told Sabo that. He’d just texted him that he’d meet him for a drink since Luffy was out for the night anyway.

The light turned, and he stepped into the road. He’d almost crossed when he heard a cry and looked back to see an old woman kneeling in the road trying to gather up the contents of her purse, one by one. From the looks of it she’d be there a long time too, carefully situating each item. She was still in the crosswalk, and the warning light blinked, counting down the seconds until the light turned again. He cursed and turned back. The drivers around here were insane, and there was no way they’d notice her. Ace knelt down beside her and grabbed her purse, scooping everything in it with a sweep of his arm, and reaching out to help her up as he got to his feet.

“Here, let’s-”

The lady screamed, her silk trimmed hat wobbling in her outrage as she stood, and eyes turned to them. “You no good thief!”

Ace sighed and wrapped the purse strap around her wildly gesticulating arm and maneuvered them both out of the road just in time. “Whatever, lady. I was just trying to help.”

“Help yourself to my purse, no doubt!”

Ace turned to leave but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He shrugged it off angrily and whirled around. Two police officers stood behind him, and Ace groaned.

“Perfect. Look, officers, I’m very sorry for keeping this lady from getting run over. I regret it deeply, you have no idea.”

“That’s enough attitude from you,” the officer whose hand Ace had politely not detatched from his arm said, and Ace bit back a rude response. “Robbery is a serious offense, you know. I’d be a bit more polite if I were you.”

Shit, he was going to have to make a run for it. There was no way they’d listen to him, no matter what he said. He was not going to jail for helping an old lady, Sabo would mock him so much it would blow away the whole kitten incident. If he were going to have to call Sabo for bail or a jail break, he’d much rather it be for a crime he’d actually committed.

Just as Ace was tensing up to bolt, the cops’ eyes widened almost comically, and Ace turned to look what new surprise had them so alarmed. Marco the Phoenix stood behind him, and Ace had a hard time not making just as much fool of himself as the cops were. He was Whitebeard’s right hand man, one of the most powerful gang members in the city, and they were square in the middle of their territory. Hell, their territory was so big Sabo, Luffy and he lived on the fringes of it, in a no man’s zone carved out by Dadan between Shanks’s and Whitebeard’ territory.

“Robbery, officers? Did you not see him hand the purse back to the woman as he pulled her to safety?” he said, and this time Ace didn’t shrug off the warm hand that settled on his shoulder, too busy being stunned by the man’s sheer presence.

“N-no, we were around the corner, but-”

“M’am?” Marco asked, and the old lady fluttered, blushing a rosy pink. Ace didn’t blame her one bit. If he weren’t so worried about where all this was going, he might be doing the same.

“I must have been mistaken. I’m sorry, young man. I was terribly rude when you merely wished to help.”

A sharp nudge prompted Ace to respond, and he shot a quick glare at Marco, before he bowed begrudgingly-- he’d not learned manners for people like this, after all-- muttering something that could be taken as an apology or thanks. Probably.

The officers took their leave, tails tucked firmly under them as they slunk away. Ace didn’t miss the spark of amusement in Marco’s gaze. “Now, Ace, come along. We’ve things to discuss, yes?”

Ace’s eyes widened at the use of his name, and Marco spun him around, leading him down the street, aways from the the still fawning lady.

“Don’t be so shocked, brat. You don’t think we don’t keep track of newbies? It’d be pretty sad if we didn’t know about you and your brothers, what with you in and out of our territory all the time,” Marco said, and Ace scowled.

“Thank you,” he said instead of a retort. “That would have been annoying to deal with without your help.” Marco laughed at the understatement and waved it off.

“Don’t mention it. Scaring cops is always fun, and they deserved it. I did see the whole thing, you know. It was kind of you.” Ace blushed and looked away.

“Whatever.”

“So where are we headed?” Marco asked, and Ace began wondering if the police would have been easier to ditch after all. Ace slowed, Marco keeping in step with him easily, that same glimmer of humor lurking in his eyes.

“I  am meeting Sabo for a drink.” Marco wrinkled his nose, and Ace huffed, deciding to ignore the warmth against his side.

“At that crappy place you guys usually go? You should come by the Moby Dick instead. I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I’m going to take Whitebeard’s head,” Ace said, “which you ought to know, seeing as how you know so much about me. So you probably shouldn’t invite me.” Marco laughed, and their shoulders brushed.

“I know you think you will.” Ace growled and sped up, not surprised in the least when Marco kept pace. “I’ll take you to meet him tomorrow, if you’d like. Should be fun for everyone.” Marco looked at him consideringly, and Ace fought the need to be self conscious. “He’ll like you.”

Ace opened his mouth to snap that he would regret underestimating him but paused. He could use this. Getting close to Whitebeard was nearly impossible. Rejecting Marco was downright stupid. It would be their own fault when Ace was successful and proved for once and all he was better than Roger ever was.

“You’ll regret it,” Ace said still, because it galled him to return a favor by killing someone presumably close to Marco, surprised when Marco merely beamed at him.

“Oh, I highly doubt that.” Ace’s stomach flipped, and he studied Marco out of the corner of his eye. “Now, come on. You’re already late, well, unless you not meeting at the usual time. Besides, you should buy me a drink.”

Ace shook his head bemusedly and followed Marco, wondering how on earth he was going to explain this Sabo when they got there. Still, something told him this could be fun.

 

 

 


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the lovely Aleskya, who requested Ace losing a bet, and he has to get Marco playing Pocky-game with him in front of the entire crew. Hope you enjoy!

“Hey, Marco?” Ace’s call was quiet even to him, but he was unsurprised when Marco heard him all the way up in the crow’s nest and hopped down to the crowded deck. Thatch snicked behind him, and Ace resisted the urge to punch him. A bet was a bet after all.

“Ace? Is everything okay?” In the dim light of the moon and flickering torches, Ace saw Marco frown. He rushed to reassure him.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just...” Ace swallowed. “Have you heard of the Pocky game?” He shook a box of Pocky that Thatch had so helpfully provided after he lost at cards. Marco blinked at him, and Ace swore there was a smile in his eyes.

“No, I don’t think so.” Bastard, Ace thought. He was definitely smiling. He was so winning this game.

“Well, you--” he began, but Izo shushed him.

“I’ll explain the rules, thank you.” Izo leaned in to whisper. “You won’t be getting out of it like that. A bet’s a bet.” Why no one else seemed to remember that Marco could hear much better than average, Ace would never understand. Or maybe they just didn’t notice. Marco’s brow twitched ever so slightly, and Ace tilted his head at Thatch, just slightly so no one but Marco would notice.

“Each person takes one end of the cookie in their mouth and they take turns biting. The first person to back away-- even after lips touch-- is the loser.” Izo snorted.

“So what’d you say, Marco? Will you play with me?” Marco looked at Ace for a moment, and Ace swallowed. He sighed when Marco’s eyes flickered over to Izo, Thatch, and Haruta. Ace was sure they’d cheated to get him to lose. He couldn’t prove it however. Other crewmembers began to gather around to see what all the ruckus was. Marco rasied his brows.

“I have to keep asking the other commanders beside these three cheaters, and if everyone says no, I owe Thatch a favor. If I get someone to say yes, I’m in the clear.” Ace muttered under everyone's laughter and jokes, and Marco’s brows shot up.

“Okay, if you’d like.” Ace’s brows shot up. He hadn’t really expected Marco to say yes. He perked up. Marco didn’t really care about winning or not. Maybe he’d just back away and let Ace win without anything happening. He might not mind the idea of kissing Marco, but this was not exactly what he had in mind.

“I told you it he’d say no, Ace. I--” Thatch stopped. “Wait, what?”

Marco stepped closer, taking advantage of the uproar his answered caused to whisper to Ace. “How’d you end up in this mess? They’d planned for everyone to say no, you know. Do you have to win?”

Izo recovered, and as the not at all neutral referee of the bet, he stepped forward to judge the game. Nearly everyone on board had come out to find out what all the commotion was, and Ace glanced around uneasily. Even Whitebeard was watching from across deck, grinning at them.

“No,” Ace muttered. “Just play on deck with any commander.” Marco growled softly, and Ace looked up at him in confusion. He shook his head slightly, and Ace shrugged and pulled out a cookie, setting it firmly between his teeth.

He had to repress a shudder when Marco moved close enough to do the same. He could feel his body heat clearly, and their breath mingled.

“Marco you get to go first as the challenged party.” Ace rolled his eyes. Where was Izo pulling these rules from? Thatch was still looking a bit dumbstruck, and Ace had to laugh at that as best he could. Marco’s eyes caught his, and Ace’s heart skipped. Marco took a small bite, but it was enough to bring their noses almost together. The sound of the crowd’s cheers and catcalls faded, and Ace tilted his head and bit half the cookie off. He smirked at Marco in challenge, and Marco merely ate the rest in a single bite.

The first press of lips took Ace by surprise. He hadn’t expected Marco to take his silent dare, and he almost took a step back in shock. He gathered himself and stepped forward instead, bringing them flush. Marco inhaled sharply when their chests came together, skin sliding enticingly against skin. Marco’s arms snaked around his waist, and he licked over Ace’s bottom lip. Ace parted his lips easily, the crowd now completely forgotten. Heat pooled in his stomach, and his eyes fluttered shut, Marco’s gaze too intense on top of it all.

Ace ran his hands up Marco’s back, Marco nipping his bottom lip when he dug his nails in. He buried his hands in Marco’s hair, tilting his head further for better access. He was almost senseless to the crowd, and he was pretty sure Marco might be even further gone, his hands drifting down to Ace’s ass. It was hard to get enough air, but Ace didn’t dream of pulling back, not when Marco was kissing him like this, like he’d always hoped.

“Alright, alright already. I’ll call it a draw.” Ace had to fight down a moan of protest when Izo dragged them apart. “Stubborn fools. It’s just a stupid game.”

“Wha- oh, yeah, right. That.” Ace licked his swollen lips and grinned when he saw Marco focus on it. Marco wasn’t one to get too into silly games. He didn’t care about winning such things, and Izo watched him, a small frown on his lips. He turned to Thatch. “Satisfied?”

“You didn’t win,” Thatch pointed out smugly.

“You just said I had to get someone to play with me.”

“He’s right, you know,” Izo said.

“Whose side are you on?” Thatch demanded, and Izo raised a brow.

“Supposedly no one’s,” Izo said. They began bickering, and Marco caught Ace’s hand, pulling him away when everyone’s attention had turned to the new distraction.

“So who all did you ask?” Marco asked when they were clear of the crowd and a good ways up to the crowsnest. Marco had gestured him up before him, though he was the one on watch, and Ace climbed quickly, heart pounding in his ears. He scrambled in and smiled at Marco when he joined him.

“No one. Why would I want to play Pocky with anyone else?” Marco stared at him a moment, and Ace shrugged. No point in hiding it now. “I would kiss you regardless of the bet, and no one else fits that, so of course I’d start with out asking you. I didn’t think you’d say yes though.”

“Is that so?” Marco asked. “You would have done it regardless?” Ace hummed.

“Want me to prove it?” Heat flared in Marco’s eyes, and Ace took that as a yes. He nudged Marco into sitting down on the bench and settled into his lap. His breathing was still uneven from earlier, and he was glad to find Marco in a similar state.

“I think I’ll need a lot of convincing. I’ve been very sure that you’d never reciprocate my feelings.”

“I’d best get started then, don’t you think?”

 

 

 


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [ Lolle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolle) on tumblr! Warnings: blood, non-graphic violence, amateur removing a bullet

“Ace, watch out!” Ace paid Marco no heed as he tore through the marines, sending them scattering as he took out one after another. They’d been on a routine mission together, going to pick something up from this island when the marines had caught on to their presence somehow. Fighting them on land was a pain in the ass, Ace mused as he shot a Firefist attack, clearing the road in front of him. It would be better on sea, where he and Marco could take out the ships in a breath, but here they had to deal with them one by one.

He let a sword pass right through him and scoffed, jumping up and kicking the soldier down. He could hear them frantically calling their superiors, and he smirked. Maybe someone a bit more interesting would appear soon. Marco stood behind him, taking care of the ones at his back. They’d been neatly trapped in an intersection, the marines pouring in from all four sides.

“We should get out of here,” Marco said, and Ace half turned to him, punching out the two soldiers in front of him. “Get somewhere better to fight before the Vice Admirals show up.” Ace snorted and exploded the road on the left

“It’s not like it will make a difference, but sure. Which direction?”

“Ace you really need to learn to take this more seriou-- Look out!” The breath was slammed out of him when Marco tackled him, and they hit the ground hard, Marco jerking. Ace’s head spun, and he sat up, shooting a blast of fire towards the marines hoping to take advantage of their confusion.

“Marco, what the hell?” Ace froze as the unmistakable warmth of blood dripped on his back. It felt like the bottom dropped out of the world, the marines around them fading to a roar in his head. “Marco?” His voice didn’t even sound like his anymore as he turned frantically to Marco, and the thought flicked through his head that it would be a wonder if Marco even recognized it before he shoved it out of his mind.

“Kairōseki,” he hissed, and Ace’s heart started again at the sound of his voice, as laced with pain as it was. Pain meant life, and that was all that mattered. “Must be a couple lodged in me somewhere.”

Ace forced himself to focus. The marines were circling them, still wary but growing bolder with each moment their attention was elsewhere Ace’s flames wrapped around him and Marco, carefully keeping from burning Marco (and how odd, how wrong, was that, to worry about his control around Marco, to be able to hurt Marco), and he expanded them out.

He cast look over Marco’s wounds. He was shot in three places, one in the shoulder, and two in the chest. There was no time to waste, Ace thought, they didn’t even have time to get away from here, not far enough to be safe at any rate. Their ship and any hope of help was days away, Saving Marco was up to him alone, and it steadied him, brought him back to the time when it was just him and Luffy. He could do this.

The flames were so thick that the marines couldn’t see them, and Ace stood, taking Marco with him as gently as he could with any degree of speed. Marco coughed, a trickle of blood, dripping from his mouth. Fuck, fuck, fuck, there was at least one lung punctured. Marco smiled at him, just a twitch of his too pale lips, and Ace breathed in.

“Stay with me, Marco.” Ace ducked into the nearest building and lit the streets up for blocks. That ought to keep them off their backs for a moment.

“Always,” Marco murmured, but his eyes fluttered shut. Ace laid him down on the the stone floor, the two shots in his chest went clean through, thankfully, but the shoulder was another story.

“This is going to hurt like hell,” Ace said, and Marco nodded a bit, but there was no time to waste on squeamishness, and Ace dug his fingers in. Marco bit his lips hard enough to bleed, but he didn’t make a noise. For him, Ace knew, to make it easier on him. Even now, bleeding out because of Ace’s own foolishness, he still would try to protect him even from the pain Ace dealt him.

Finally, finally, his fingers caught the bullet, and he tore it from the wound, grimacing, and flung it across the room. Instantly, the room was alight in blue flames, and Ace could breathe again. He slumped, but Marco was already up and transforming. He shrieked impatiently, and Ace forced his relief-numb limbs to move, to climb on Marco’s back and cling. Marco burst out of the building, bricks and mortar scattering in his wake, and then they were up.

Marco didn’t take them far, just to the other side of the island, and Ace frowned. It must have been close to make Marco this tired after transforming. They tumbled into the underbrush of the forest, landing on a reasonably soft bed of moss.

“Okay?” Ace asked, and Marco nodded, eyes already drooping. A cold breeze hissed through the leaves, and Marco shivered as he sank into the moss. The air temperature raised dramatically in their little copse, and as Marco sank into a healing sleep, he smiled, ever so slightly, a soft sigh leaving him at the sudden warmth.

There was no need to set a watch; Marco had set them miles out into the deep wilderness, and Ace would wake at the approach of anything anyway. It hadn’t been that long since he’d had to sleepy warily in the jungle that he’d forgotten how to listen even in his sleep.There was nothing else to do, so he decided he might as well curl up and get some rest too.

It was a long time before his breaths evened out and he finally slept.

 

* * *

 

“Ace, Ace wake up. It’s okay. Ace. Just a bad dream.”

Ace bolted upright and latched onto Marco, who was leaning over him worriedly. Marco’s arms came around him tentatively, and Ace loosened his hold.

“Sorry,” he said, and Marco frowned. “I’m so sorry about today. You almost died, and it was all my fault. I should have listened, I should have--” Ace gasped when Marco pulled him closer, until he was practically in Marco’s lap, their chest pressed together. His heart pounded in his chest so loudly, Ace thought wildly, that the marines would find them for sure, from that alone.

“Shhh...” Marco’s stubble rubbed against Ace’s cheek. “A silly thing like that is causing you to have nightmares?”

“It’s not silly,” Ace snapped, leaning away as much as he could with Marco’s iron grip on him. “You almost died.” Ace almost choked on the word, and Marco’s eyes widened. He softened, every bit of him, and Ace swallowed.

“I told you, didn’t I?” His voice was husky, deeper than normal, and Marco smiled at him, a soft, questing smile that made warmth well in Ace’s chest. “I’ll always stay with you. As long as you want. A lucky marine isn’t going to change that.”

It wasn’t planned. Ace never really had even acknowledged that this might be something he would want, much less mull over whether it was something he could have, something Marco would give. But he pressed his lips to Marco’s gently without thinking, a whisper of a kiss. Marco jolted like a released bowstring, and Ace suddenly got the impression that while this was a new concept to him. Marco had thought about it, had thought about possessing him like this. He moaned, sinking into Marco, kissing him him full on now.

Marco clutched at him, his chest heaving against Ace with his rapid breathing. They drifted apart, and Ace laughed in shock, in disbelief, so full of joy he couldn’t keep it in anymore. Marco’s grin stretched wider, and Ace tilted his head, looking up at him with a mischievous smile.

“Promise?”

“For as long as you’ll have me.” Ace tucked himself up against Marco, breathing in his scent, hands clutching at his back.

“Good. Because I’m keeping you.”

 

 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [ Lolle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolle/profile) again, and thank you for waiting until I'd finished all of the others to get to the rest of yours! <3

Marco smiled as he walked into the cafe where Ace worked, shaking rain out of his hair and resting his dripping umbrella near the door. Today was going to be the day, he’d decided. He was finally going to ask Ace out. It had been more than two months since Ace broke up with his boyfriend, and that was probably long enough. Nerves fizzed under his skin, as Marco walked up to the counter.

It was the middle of the afternoon, the time he prefered to come in since there was rarely anyone there, and Ace had time to chat. It was just around the corner from his work, so it worked out well. Ace looked up at Marco’s footsteps, and his grins shot sparks down Marco’s spine.

“Hey,” he said, and Marco’s smile widened.

“Hey, how are you?” Marco looked into Ace’s warm eyes, and he kicked himself. He couldn’t ask Ace out when he was at work. That was rude and creepy, and how many times had he heard Ace complaining about customers who did just that. Sure, he wasn’t just a customer, but no one wanted to be asked out when they were at work. He should have waited until movie night at Thatch’s or something.

“Bored out of my mind. It’s been slow all day because of the rain.” Ace bit his lip distractingly, a soft look in his eyes. “Actually, do you want to have a cup of coffee together? I’ve not taken my break yet.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” Marco smiled, and Ace’s eyes widened a bit, like he’d not expected that answer.

“Really? You want to?” Ace let out a breath slowly, then grinned brighter than Marco had seen lately, and Marco smiled back. It was perfect. It wouldn’t be weird to ask Ace out if they were having coffee together. “You don’t have to get back to work or anything?”

“Pops is a pretty understanding boss, as you know.” Ace nodded at that. He interned at their office most weekdays. Marco noticed the dark circles under Ace's eyes were more pronounced than usual. He was juggling classes and this job in addition to working with them. Marco made a mental note to talk to Whitebeard about hiring him for real while he was still in school. They’d been trying, but Ace was stubborn and refused to accept “charity”. He was in his last year though, and the last thing he needed with all his schoolwork was to keep the weird hours this job forced on him.

“Sit anywhere, and I’ll be right out to join you.” Ace’s smile had extra warmth in it today, maybe because Marco had decided, and he chose a random table. Ace appeared not a minute later, two mugs in his hands. His own was piled in whipped cream, and Marco shook his head in mock disapproval. Ace grinned good naturedly and set Marco’s plain black coffee in front of him, wrinkling his nose in a way that made Marco want to the expression off him.

He wrapped his hands around his mug to keep from acting on that, and Ace took a sip, getting whipped cream on his nose. Marco cleared his throat and took a sip of his scalding coffee.

“Ace--”

The door was flung open so hard the chimes made a strangled parody of their useful cheerful noise.

“Marco! There you are! We need you right away. There’s been a...” Marco tuned out Thatch and turned to look at Ace regretfully, but Ace had already gotten up to fetch Marco a to-go cup. Marco smiled gratefully and sighed, telling himself he was imagining the wistful look in Ace’s eyes.

“Maybe next time,” Ace said, and Marco nodded.

Next time for sure.

 

* * *

 

Next time turned out to be Thatch’s movie night, two days later, and Marco despaired of getting Ace alone with everyone around. It turned out not to be that hard as he was expecting. In the middle of the two movies they were watching that night (both horror because apparently the first of October wasn’t too soon), Marco started clearing up their takeout boxes, and Ace surprised him in by following him into the kitchen with a second load.

He smiled tentatively as he helped Marco throw them out. Their hands brushed, and Ace grinned up at him, and this time, Marco thought, this time maybe he wasn’t making up the heat in Ace’s eyes.

“So, Ace would--”

Vista and Haruta burst into the kitchen, and Ace stepped away, and Marco felt the loss of his proximity as a physical blow.

“What do you need?” Marco asked, a bit tersely. Ace sent him a mischievous glance, and Marco’s heart started speeding up. He definitely didn’t imagine that.

“Beer,” Vista said, his response almost lost in Haruta’s yell for popcorn.

“We just had dinner,” Marco groused, but he dropped the act when Ace perked up.

“Popcorn sounds good.”

Ace leaned up against his legs from his seat on the floor when they finally settled down to the second movie. Marco had a hard time following along with the movie.

 

* * *

 

He didn’t have a chance again for a whole week, and he was seriously considering that he was cursed when the phone rang.

“Hey, Marco, are you busy?” Familiar warmth wrapped around him at the sound of Ace’s voice, and Marco permitted himself a smile.

“No, why, what’s up?”

“Nothing really. But Sabo and Luffy both are out, and I’m bored, and I wondered if maybe you wanted to ask what you’ve been trying to ask, because curiousity is killing me.” Marco froze, unable to answer.

“Sometimes I think I know what it is, and if it is that, then I really would like to say yes, though it’s ridiculous. You’d never ask me o-- well but sometimes you get this look, and I really, really, like-- I don’t want to read into it, but...I’m babbling. I’ll stop.”

Ace waited a few moments and inhaled audibly. “Marco?”

“Ace, do you want to go out with me?” Ace’s breathing hitched, and Marco closed his eyes, phone gripped too tightly in his hand, imagining the play of emotion across Ace’s face.

“Well, honestly, I thought we could pretend to watch a movie and make out on the sofa, but if you want to--”

“Ace”

“What? That was a clear yes, I thought?” Marco’s grin felt like it was going to split his face in two as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

“I’ll be over soon.”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anon on tumblr, who requested Marco/Ace Ace and Shanks get on like a house on fire and the WBPs are brimming with jealousy.

“Relax, you old bird, I’m not here to cause trouble.” Shanks tilted his head as if considering his own statement. “Well, maybe a little, but it kind of depends.”

“On what?” Marco ground out. The marines were after them all, sure that nothing good could come out of a meeting of two Yonko (Marco was inclined to agree), and all the men that had been on deck were passed out just because of Shanks’s need to show off. But Shanks was already off. “Pops?”

“Let’s see what he wants first, son,” Whitebeard said, brows raised. “It’s not usual behavior for him, that’s for sure.”

Marco looked over to where Shanks was peering into a barrel over on deck, muttering. “No, you could certainly say he’s acting... different.”

All of his men were still on the Red Force as a sign of good faith, and they were all watching with an uncharacteristic as their captain began poking around in stranger and stranger places.

“You didn’t lock the kid up, did you? Because I must say, if you did, we’ll be having words.” He didn’t wait for an answer but left them to puzzle out that bizarre statement and yelled out. “Oi, Ace!”

Everyone on deck froze as the familiar orange cowboy hat immediately appeared from a vent. Marco’d been trying to track the kid down for days, but he was damn good at hiding when he wasn’t trying to assassinate Whitebeard. He gaped openly (at least he wasn’t the only one, he thought, everyone looked equally shocked) as Ace’s eyes widened, and his face split into a soul-warming grin and he bounced-- bounced-- out of hiding to clap Shanks on the shoulder delightedly.

Who knew the brat could even smile, much less like that? Marco thought dazedly.  “Shanks! It’s so good to see you!” Shanks pulled him easily into a one armed hug, grinning.

“How are you? Heard this lot kidnapped you.” He nodded his head dismissively to the still frozen Whitebeard Pirates. “In need of a rescue?”

“Nah, I gotta finish this,” Ace said, and relief flooded Marco, taking him aback. If someone had have asked him this morning whether or not he cared one way or the other if someone took Ace away today, he would have said no. And he would have been wrong.

Marco stepped forward, to do what he didn’t know, but Whitebeard put a restraining hand on his shoulder. He was shocked at the desire to shrug it off.

“Have time to catch up?” Shanks asked, pouted exaggeratedly, and Ace laughed. Everyone on the ship froze at the contagious sound, summoning smiles from everyone, and Marco found himself wondering where the surly brat of the last couple months had gone. Shanks waggled his brows. “I can always do with more stories.”

“I’m not likely to run out of those,” Ace said drily and glanced around the ship. “But aren’t you, you know, enemies.”

Shanks scoffed and waved dismissively. “Look at them-- they’re going to take a while to thaw out of their shock. We got time.”

“Oi, Shanks, what the hell do you think--”

“Enough, Thatch.” Whitebeard’s eyes were soft as he watched Ace snicker at some quiet remark Shanks had made. “Let them be.”

“But, Pops--”

“Go about business as usual, but give them some space.” Marco huffed but bit back the argument on his lips and set about to make sure the orders were followed. Shanks and Ace settled against a wall, Shanks up against it, and Ace with his back to them like it was nothing, not out of trust for them, but for him, and Marco found himself unreasonably angry that it wasn’t some fluke. It was like was a completely different purpose with Shanks, a smile never not gracing his face and lighting up his eyes as they chatted and laughed.

The sun was setting when Marco finally let himself walk up to them. Ace instantly hardened at his approach, and Marco wanted to hit something. Preferably Shanks.

“Would you like some dinner since you’ve camped out on our deck?” he said dryly. Ace scooted so he could see him better, and Shanks put his hand on Ace’s shoulder comfortingly. Shanks raised a brow and nodded to Ace slightly, and Marco hated it, hated that he knew what he was asking and hated that he felt like he had to ask it. Hated even more that he had to shake his head no, Ace rarely ate and only what he snatched. He doubted the kid had had more than a few good meals in weeks as they were having to get rather creative in letting him “steal” them.

Shanks stared at him consideringly, and Marco waited for him to refuse, to take Ace over to his ship, and really, why shouldn’t he? Ace was clearly happy with him. But instead he nodded. “Sure! Why not?” Ace looked at him almost as disbelievingly as Marco. “What it’s not like they’re going to poison me. As enemies, they’re not the bad sort, you know?” He turned back to Marco.

“You better bring a lot, though, because this kid can eat, let me tell you.” Marco shook his head as he walked away to let Thatch know. Who’d have thought the brat blushed?

They ate leisurely, still laughing and talking. Shanks completely ignored that the entire crew was now outright glaring at him, wondering how he’d gotten Ace to open up so easily. Ace had even thanked Thatch for the food when he brought it out. He’d almost dropped the whole tray in his surprise.

Ace had plowed through enough food for fifty men easily, and Marco could see his own guilt at not being able to get him to eat enough mirrored in the eyes of everyone on board. It made it very easy to hate Shanks, not that wasn’t an easy enough task at the best of times.  

Finally Shanks stood up to go, making his offer one more time to take Ace with him. No one would have raised a finger to stop him, and his smug glance at Marco when he’d asked the question said he knew it too. There was an audible sigh of relief when Ace shook his head no, and he turned to look at them in confusion. Shanks ruffled his hair, and Ace scowled, a different sort of scowl than the fierce ones he had for them.

He left as quickly as he came and with just as much production about it, clear warning in his eyes. Ace vanished just as suddenly, but that was okay, Marco decided as he meet Whitebeard’s eye.

Because now they knew what was at stake. And they weren’t going to let Shanks win this one.

 

 


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for [Lolle ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lolle/profile), who asked for Marco getting jealous of how easy Ace is with Sabo before he knows Sabo is Ace’s brother. I hope you enjoy!

Excitement danced along Marco’s skin as he rearranged the chips for something to do with his hands that might keep him from staring at the door like a lovesick calf. Thatch growled halfheartedly from the kitchen, but he’d long since given up after Marco had destroyed his perfect arrangements of party snack for the fourth time. He muttered something about cycling back to perfection if he let it go on, but Marco didn’t mind him, clearly the salsa was better off on the edge of the table.

“It’s just a party, Marco! We have one once a month at least!” Thatch threw up his hands, garnering laughs from everyone who’d already gathered. Most of their brothers were already here, waiting for Thatch to finish fussing and for the last people to arrive so they could start the movie.

Vista laughed from his seat on the sofa. “But Ace promised to come this time. It’s Ace’s first time to your place. He’s not going to sit.” There was raucous agreement from all of the others.

“I’m just trying to--” Marco cut himself off and sighed when everyone in the room just laughed. Maybe he’d been a bit obvious.

Thatch huffed and rolled his eyes, before coming out of the kitchen to shove Marco down next to Vista. “Just sit there, and talk to Vista and leave my poor abused snacks alone. Not one move toward the snacks, or I pull out the embarrassing high school pictures as soon as he gets here.”

Marco, about to get up to begin pacing once more, froze. “You wouldn’t. You can’t just blackmail people like that.”

“I would, and I just did.” Just then the doorbell rang, making everyone jump. No one ever rang the bell, they just barged in, and that alone was enough to start Marco’s heart beating far too quickly.

Haruta bounced over to the door before anyone else could react and flung it open. Ace walked in with a grin, meeting Marco’s eyes, and Marco smiled back and desperately wished he’d thought to get a drink to fiddle with. Someone was behind Ace, though and his eyes drifted to the handsome blond.

“Oh, everyone this is Sabo!” Ace casually slung an arm around Sabo’s shoulders, and his grin widened. “He had nothing else to do and insisted on tagging along.” Everyone completely unsubtly turned to look at Marco before making their greetings. Luckily Ace didn’t seem to notice, already drifting over to the snacks.

It took a bit for everyone to get settled, but eventually Thatch put on the movie. Ace had taken the spot between Marco and the arm of the sofa, and Sabo sat by his feet curled up by his legs. Everyone deposited themselves on the mismatch of furniture and the floor, passing (or violently chucking) pillows until everyone was comfortable.

Sabo looked up, meeting his eyes, and Marco forced a smile to his face. “you must be Marco, right? I’ve heard so much about you from Ace.”

Ace flicked the back of Sabo’s head and hissed something under his breath, and Sabo snickered, his head resting on Ace’s knee. The movie began, something with too many improbable explosions, but Marco paid it no heed. He couldn’t help but watch Ace with Sabo out of the corner of his eye. Ace had never been one for casual touches, but he absently fiddled with Sabo’s hair as they watch, and Sabo was using his legs as a backrest.

He was happy for Ace, really he was. Ace deserved all the love and happiness in the world, and while Marco had hoped that he could provide that, well, he was still Ace’s friend, and nothing would ever change that. Repeating that (true) statement didn’t make his heart any less heavy though, and it didn’t help that everyone else in the room kept throwing ridiculously unsubtle look his way.

Marco was going to kill them all one of these days, and no one would even blame him. Sabo stretched, and Ace batted his hands out of the way. Marco couldn’t make out their muttered argument, but he could see the clear affection between them, and he stood up abruptly. Ace looked at him in askance, and Marco realized his untouched drink made it a bit odd he got up.

Instead of going for another drink as he planned, he headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind him with a relieved sigh. He needed to stop being so mopey or even Ace would notice something was wrong, and that was the last thing Marco wanted. After he’d washed his hands, he took a deep breath and smiled at his reflection. He shook his head at himself and headed back to the living room.

Sabo was murmuring something in Ace’s ear, leaning over the arm of the couch and half in Ace’s lap to do so, and Marco shook himself. Before he could sit back down, Sabo bounced up and grabbed him. Marco let himself be dragged to the kitchen without question, dread curling in his stomach because surely he’d not been that obvious.

When they got there, Sabo poked in the fridge, pulling out two sodas and handing one to Marco. He took it numbly.

“Hey, sorry, I kidnapped you, but I just wanted to thank you for taking such good care of my brother.”

Marco blinked, and Sabo snorted as he opened his own soda. He clapped Marco on the shoulder. “Dude, you’ve got it so bad. Yes, brother, you heard correctly. I’ll leave you to process.” He started out of the kitchen, then paused and turned back. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d heard a lot about you.”

Then he was gone, leaving Marco standing and gaping after him, holding a soda he didn’t even like. He had just started back to the living room, still befuddled, but the excitement was back from before, and he felt like he was floating, when Ace came into the kitchen.

“Oh! Marco, hey. I wondered where you’d gone off too. That bastard Sabo was supposed to bring me a drink and then completely forgot! He wouldn’t even share.” Ace pouted exaggeratedly, looking up at Marco from the corner of his eyes.

Marco held out the soda Sabo had left him with wordlessly. Ace leaned in to grab the soda, biting his bottom lip distractingly. He sighed and looked up at Marco. They were somehow now very close, close enough Marco could feel Ace’s breath fluttering across his skin.

“Would you mind if I kissed you now?” Ace asked, and Marco froze, thoughts skittering away as he started at Ace’s lips. He wasn’t sure he remembered how to breath anymore, much less form words. He nodded.

“Oh,” Ace said, sadly, and he moved to step back. Marco’s hand flew to his waist to stop him, and he let out a relieved breath when Ace’s wide eyes turned back to him.

“I’d very much mind if you didn’t,” Marco said, and Ace positively lit up, happiness radiating from him as he grinned so widely, Marco almost couldn’t believe it. Ace kissed him gently at first, like he was exploring, trying to find out how best to throw off his breathing, but he got too impatient for the pace he’d set himself quickly, deepening the kiss until Marco was no longer sure where he ended and Ace began.

Ace hummed when he pulled away to kiss down Marco’s neck. “Very nice. I’m glad you didn’t mind.” His voice was still breathy and his lips never left Marco’s skin for more than the barest of moments.

“Mmmm, yes,” Marco said, the words coming out half strangled. Ace’s eyes darkened, and he licked along Marco’s collarbone.

“I think we should do it again, just to make sure.”

“Oh, definitely.”


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For altiria on tumblr, who wanted Marco/Ace with a love potion or spell...

It didn’t take long to find the source of the disturbance that had been terrorizing the countryside. Whitebeard was a just king, and his people knew to come to him in times of trouble, and when a messenger had told of an entire forest taken over by magic of the most evil sort, he’d lost no time sending Ace and Marco to see what they could do.

They had noticed a difference as soon as they got to the outskirts of the Emerald forest. Ace snorted, falling back to ride next to Marco.

“Not one for subtlety, are they?” Dark clouds hovered over the forests, shrouding everything in black. The fog started right at the border of the forest and looked thick enough to cut blocks out of to build a fortress. Cobwebs of a size to warn that a horse would be considered a mere snack hung everywhere, and there was no sight of the traditional creatures that frolicked in these woods.

Marco chuckled warmly, the sound fighting off the chill in the air, and Ace smiled. “No, the only thing they’re missing is a sign proclaiming they do evil and will kill us all.” He peered into the soupy fog. “Mind dealing with this? I don’t fancy running into one of those spiders blind.”

“No? I think it might be fun that way.” Ace peered into the forest, and his horse shifted under him uneasily.

“Ace.”

“Fine, fine, but when it’s boring don’t blame me.” Ace called up his fire, the only magic he possessed and the only one he needed. He prefered using his fists to summoning demons or levitating anyday. He blasted through the fog, leaving the trees completely untouched. When the light from the fire faded Ace noted he’d burn off some of the cloud cover too. Whoops.

“I guess they know we’re coming,” Marco said dryly, but he smiled. His own blue flames flickered around his hand, which he held like a torch, and Ace let him take the lead, watching in fascination. Unlike him, Marco didn’t _have_ magic so much as he _was_ magic. He was a phoenix, one of the rarest creatures in the world. They were reclusive, and almost no one ever saw one.  

Marco said he’d come to live among humans for a bit to study them and because he was bored. He’d met Whitebeard and never looked back. Ace had to admit he was biased, but Marco’s powers were beautiful, and he never got tired of watching. Not that he got tired of watching Marco in general.

They dispatched half a dozen of the giant spiders with little effort, Marco biting his lip to hold back his smile when Ace complained they could have kept the fog. He patted Ace’s arm in a conciliatory way, and Ace cursed the way his simple touch lingered, burned.

“I’m sure whoever is behind this will be more exciting. They had to expand a serious amount of magic to change the forest this drastically,” he said, and Ace nodded. They rode unaccosated from then on to the very heart of the forest, where a castle had sprung up since they last had been here.

It was so cliche, they both snorted when it came into view. It towered above the small clearing in which it stood, though it must be invisible out of the forest, since they really ought to have seen it before they went under the tree cover. It looked to have been carved in one piece from a stone so black, it sucked in all the light around it. Gargoyles and spikes covered any flat surface, and there was no sign of a door. The closest window was easily fifty feet up the perfectly smooth tower.

They tethered the horses on the edge of the clearing, and Ace made a barrier of fire around them. There might be more spiders, after all, and Marco nodded in approval. Ace would know if it were dispelled or breeched, so they were as safe as could be hoped for. Ace held his breath as Marco shifted. No matter how many times he saw it, Ace would never get tired of seeing the gorgeous blue flames fade to brilliant feathers.

Marco nudged him out of his stupor, and Ace wrapped his arms around Marco’s neck, the feathers silky against his bare skin. He breathed in as Marco took off, and he laughed from the sheer joy of flight. Marco must have heard him even over the wind for he did a few corkscrews and sudden dips. He trilled, and Ace laughed again, hugging Marco tight in thanks, as Marco leveled off at the top most window, hovering.

Ace knew that was his cue and leaped off, bursting through the window in a flurry of flames. Marco glided in to land beside him, back in human form, but still covered in flames. He’d once told Ace that it was good to feed the intimidation factor.

A warlock (dressed all in black and again far too cliche, Ace thought) smirked at them from his throne.

“It’s about time. I thought you’d never get through the forest so I could have a bit of fun.” Ace growled, but before he could attack, the warlock casually flung a spell at Marco. Ace’s eyes widened when it took hold, freezing Marco to the spot. It was powerful magic that could hold Marco even for a few minutes. Ace knew he could get out of it eventually, but he charged at the warlock. If he drew the fire, Marco would be safe.

The warlock cackled, brimming with smug satisfaction. “All according to plan. The generals of Whitebeard need to fall!” He shot a sickening pink light at Ace, who stopped and blinked. He didn’t feel any different. He turned to look at Marco who was watching him in horror. Huh.

“That’s right, phoenix, I see you recognized the Love’s Curse. He’ll love you until it is the death of him. The feared General Ace will die of a broken heart, even on the slim chance you love him, for it will never be enough. He’ll waste away in front of you, and it will be all your fault, for it can never be broken, no matter what you do. You’re all such saps it will be easy to take care of you when you’re stricken with grief and the kingdom will bow to me!”

Ace punched him in the jaw mid cackle. He hadn’t been the least on guard, apparently sure that his stupid spell had completely incapacitated Ace. The warlock fell, eyes wide. “But how...?”A blast of fire was enough to ensure that he was never a problem for anyone again.

The castle began to shake with the death of its creator, and Ace hustled Marco out of the room. He just shoved him out the window and dropped after him.

“You idiot!!” Marco yelled out before transforming and plucking Ace out of the air, like Ace had known he would. They landed with less than Marco’s usual grace, and he was back to human and shaking Ace by the shoulders before Ace did more than blink. “Are you alright?”

Ace dragged them both away from falling debris and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He shot a grin at Marco, crossing his fingers his usual cocky attitude would cover this all up. “I must be immune to love spells.”

Marco was looking at him strangely, worry and confusion wrinkling his brow. “No human ought to be, and it hit you full on. I might not know much about them, but I do know that.”

“I’m really fine, Marco. I’m no more likely to sigh longingly for you now than I was before. Promise.” Ace went to check on the horses and hoped Marco wouldn’t think too much about that statement. He turned back to Marco, who was still staring at him worriedly, and he sighed.

“Fine. Love spells don’t work if you’re already in love with the other target, okay? That’s why it didn’t work. I was in love with you already. He couldn’t replace that with his stupid facsimile, curse or not.”

Marco’s jaw dropped most satisfactorily, and Ace turned back to preparing the horses for the journey home with a mental shrug. Marco wouldn’t let it make things awkward between them for long, Ace was sure. Ace gasped when arms wrapped around him and pulled his back flush with Marco’s chest. He tried to turn around, but Marco’s grip was too tight. Marco buried his face in Ace’s hair, his hot breath prickling Ace’s scalp.

“Don’t scare me like that again, okay? It would have killed me to see you suffer like that. Don’t brush that off.”

“Marco?” This time Marco let Ace turn to face him, slackening his grip the barest minimum so he could. The depth of concern in Marco’s eyes, the fear, shook Ace to the core. “Hey, Marco, it’s okay! I’m fine, I promise!” He let himself cup Marco’s cheek with a hand, let himself feel Marco, trace his cheek bone with a thumb. Marco smiled at him, and Ace felt the muscles move beneath his fingers.

“I love you, Ace.”  

Ace frowned and cocked his head, looking at Marco critically. “Are you sure the spell didn’t hit you on accident?”

“ _Ace._ ”

Ace pressed a quick peck to Marco’s lips, the one brief touch sending energy zinging through him.

“Just kidding. But--”

Marco kissed him, and Ace decided to let his worries be thoroughly silenced.

 

 


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for minister-of-silly-walks on tumblr, who asked for: Marco/Ace person A tells the baristas at his local coffee shop to make whatever because he likes trying new flavors and person B grabs their coffee by mistake. Or person A tells the baristas to make whatever and person B is the barista who makes em.

Ace took a sip of his coffee and nearly spat it out. This bitter brew was not what he’d ordered. Not that he knew what he’d ordered exactly, but he was certain Usopp wouldn’t have given him whatever this was. There wasn’t anything in it to temper the taste. Ace might be open to trying new flavor combinations in his coffee, but he didn’t want to taste coffee. That was the whole point of going to these ridiculous coffee shops, wasn’t it?

Beside him, a man took a sip of his drink and sputtered. Ah ha, Ace thought, and glared at Usopp. But he took at the line out the door and sighed. It wasn’t worth making him replace it. Ace should have known better than to come when it was this busy and give him extra work with his requests to make him whatever as long as it was interesting.

“I think our coffees might have gotten switched up,” Ace said to the man. He was still coughing-- what had Usopp put in this time?-- and Ace took the opportunity to shamelessly check him out while waiting for him to recover. He was older than him, but very fit, and Ace hummed to himself. He almost took another sip of the bland battery acid he still held and stopped himself just in time.

“What the hell do you do to yourself every morning?” the man demanded, and Ace bit back a cheeky grin.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” The man looked like he wasn’t nearly caffeinated enough for this conversation, and Ace took pity on him. He handed the man his coffee, and he took it out of reflex as Ace snagged his own.

“Usopp just makes me his creation of the day, and I taste test it for him. He’s my brother’s friend.”

“No offense, but I think he’s trying to kill you.” Ace’s brows rose, and he looked at his purloined coffee curiously, his eyes flicking back up to the coffee thief. He didn’t look like he was carrying any terrible plagues and coffee was hot, and hot things killed germs anyway, so Ace sipped his own coffee at last.

His brows rose as fire washed through him, warming him to his toes. Cayenne, cinnamon, chocolate for sure, and was that caramel? Usopp had outdone himself this time, and it was perfect for a frigid day like this. He gave Usopp a big thumbs up when he happened to catch his eye.

The man was looking at his nasty coffee rather dubiously. “So you’re sure you stole my coffee?”

“Excuse me, but you’re the thief here.” Ace shrugged, grinning. “It was just coffee with like nothing in it at _all_. So if you like boring, then yes, that is yours. If not, well... We can try stealing someone else’s and keep trading until we find it. Or they kick us out.”

“It sounds like that has happened to you before, and somehow, I’m not surprised.” Before Ace could protest that that was markedly unfair, the man smiled at him and held up his cup in a parody of a toast. “I do like ‘boring’ coffee, as you say.” He took a sip and hummed, closing his eyes.

Ace shook his head in disgust as they started moving towards the door. The number of people had grown exponentially somehow while he’d located his delicious coffee and its thief, and Ace was forced up against the perpetrator while they made their way to the door. He couldn’t say he minded though.

“I’m Ace,” he said, shifting his coffee, so he could hold out a hand when they made it through the door into the bitter cold. A gloved hand took his own firmly, and Ace relished the warmth. He really should have brought his gloves.

“Marco.” Ace got a sleepy smile, and his heartbeat quickened, his blood fizzing. They both turned opposite directions and froze. They laughed awkwardly, and Ace shifted from foot to foot, covering up his unease with another sip of coffee.. Ace thought-- hoped-- he saw disappointment that matched his own shutter Marco’s face, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure.

“I guess we’re off different ways.” Ace only noticed he was biting his lip because Marco’s gaze was fixed on it.

“Yeah,” Marco said, and this time Ace couldn’t convince himself he was making up the reluctance.

“So, see you tomorrow?” Ace said, and let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when Marco visibly brightened.

“Yeah,” he said, and the warmth in his voice was enough to make the hot coffee entirely superfluous on Ace’s walk to work, and he was pretty sure his cheeks would be aching by the time the day was over from the continuous grinning.

When he arrived at the coffee shop the next day an hour earlier than they’d met before and spotted Marco sitting at a table fiddling with a coffee cup, another cup steaming across from him, Ace was pretty sure his grin was going to become permanent.

 

 


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an anon on tumblr who needed some cheering up!

When Marco walked in Sanji’s restaurant, Ace tried not to let his surprise show. Marco came in at least twice a week, but he only ever came in mid-morning on a weekday, just before the lunch rush and never once had Ace seen him so late. It was eight o’clock Friday night, tables already starting to clear from dinner, and instead of just walking up to the bar and ordering breakfast like usual, Marco waited at the host stand. Nami greeted him, shooting a puzzled glance over at Ace, who shrugged, just as bewildered.

Last time Marco had come, he hadn’t mentioned anything about coming to dinner. Not that they ever really talked much, honestly, just enough for Ace to confirm that Marco wanted his usual. He always read, and if Ace spent a little too long staring at him, well, it was a lull, and his coworkers had far too much fun poking at him. Ace had all been permanently assigned to the bar at that time, and he wasn’t sure whether to hate or love his coworkers for that.

Nami sure enough led him right to Ace’s section without batting an eye, and Ace’s stomach sank when he saw she carried two menus. She seated Marco and before Ace could go take his drink order-- surely he wouldn’t want hot tea and the two egg plate for dinner? Sanji would do it but he’d bitch about it while preening that his eggs were just that good-- she shoved him back toward the kitchen.

“Nami--”

“He’s on a date. A man, he said, but he didn’t know what he looks like.” Nami made a face that had Ace snickering before he could process the tangle of feelings that came with knowledge that Marco was indeed gay and single, but also on a date with someone else. “Who goes on blind dates anymore?”

“Okay, but--” Nami fixed him with a look that made Ace want to shuffle away.

“Are you going to be okay? I know I put him in your section, but you know Vivi can take that table.”

“Of course, I’ll be fine Nami! I just think he’s hot, I’m won’t heartbroken or anything believe me.” She gave him another look, and Ace almost wished it were Robin on tonight. Though on second thought...

Ace sighed. “I’d rather get to see them, whoever they are,” he said, knowing she wouldn’t let him brush it off more than that.

Her smile radiated concern, and Ace had to wonder when he’d gotten so transparent as she squeezed his hand and nudged him to the front, going back to the kitchen to report. Ace took in a deep breath and went to go greet Marco.

“Ace!” Marco’s smile was warm like always, and Ace almost tripped. They’d never actually exchanged names, though Marco surely had heard Sanji or someone hollering at him at some point. He only knew Marco’s name from his credit card. “I didn’t think I’d get to see you. You work nights too?”

“Hi, Marco! Er, Mr. Phoenix, I mean.” The name felt clumsy on his lips, and Marco laughed and waved his correction off.

“Please, Marco is fine.”

Ace cleared his throat and kept his feet from shuffling. “I only work nights on the weekend, and only when we’re short.”  

Marco smiled at him, and Ace took a deep breath in, forcing a smile to his face. “What would you like to drink while you wait for your companion?”

“Beer, whatever you have on tap. I think I’m going to need it.” Ace blinked and bit his lip to hold back a smile.

“Of course. I’ll get that right out for you.”

“Izo has interesting ideas of who I might like, you know,” he said before Ace could leave, and he must have seen the question on Ace’s face because he continued. “I was blackmailed. Brothers are a menace.”

Ace automatically went to where Luffy was precariously balancing three tables’ worth of dirty dishes. “Believe me, I’m familiar with that.”

 

* * *

 

Marco’s date was more than 20 minutes late, and Sanji had taken pity on him and sent Ace out with a plate of appetizers long before they’d gotten there. Ace wondered vaguely if Marco was aware the entire staff was gossiping about them and Marco’s date, but he consoled himself with the fact that it was like this for every regular who brought in dates.

The man had been awful when he finally arrived, and not just to Marco. Ace was holding onto his temper by fine threads after the second time talking to the man. Marco was looking more and more miserable, sending Ace apologetic glance as the man insulted both of them over and over.

After they’d ordered entrees, Ace just couldn’t take it anymore, and went to go steal a piece of paper from Nami. She’d been glaring daggers at the man after he’d complained about Marco loud enough for the restaurant to hear as soon as he’d gotten there and gave him the paper without question, though she did peer over his shoulder as he wrote.

Marco--

On the off chance you want an escape, I just gave you an excuse obviously and the back door is propped open. We’ve a table back in the kitchen, and Sanji says you’re more than welcome if you want to eat in peace.

You can always just roll your eyes and say they always exaggerate if you want too.

“Not likely,” Nami said. “Have you seen how miserable he looks? I was about ready to kick his date out myself. Well, get him to insult me in Sanji’s hearing, but he would deserve what he got and more.”

Ace raised his brows. “That’s not a bad plan at all.”

“No, but yours is better, now shoo.” Her eyes flicked to Marco’s table. “He looks ready to throw something.”

Ace walked up to the table with his heart in his throat. “Excuse me, sir,” he began, and Marco looked at him like a drowning man with no hope of escape. Ace winked, and he straightened in his seat, eyes on the paper Ace was holding.

“About time, is our food done yet? I want to get out of this dingy place as soon as possible.” Ace ignored the date completely

“We’ve got an urgent phone call for Marco.”

“Yes, that’s me,” Marco said, already stretching out a hand for his “message”. He hissed out a breath, and Ace was almost concerned despite knowing it was an act. “Shit.” He looked up at his date. “I’m so sorry, but I’ve really got to go. It was lovely to meet you.” He threw on his coat and left without looking back.

“I’ll have your entree out shortly, sir,” Ace said, mentally gritting his teeth.

“Fuck this, I’m leaving. The cheapskate didn’t even pay for his beer!” The man sneered at him. “And don’t think I will either!” With that he was up and leaving, and Nami was miming cheering behind his back. Ace grinned and hopped off to the kitchen, leaving Luffy to clear up.

His heart leapt when he saw Marco was indeed back there, chatting to Sanji. When he caught sight of Ace he grinned, making Ace’s heart do weird spirals in his chest.

“I really can’t thank you enough,” Marco said as Ace approached. “I’m just sorry you have to keep dealing with him.”

“Nope, he flounced off without paying.” Ace snicked and Sanji muttered something about it being a small price to pay for taking out the trash.

“I will be happy to cover it,” Marco said dryly, but Sanji was already brushing the offer off.

“On the house tonight. You’ve suffered most of all.”

Marco smiled at Ace. “I wish you could join me.” Ace froze, watching in fascination as he blushed. “I mean, I need to thank you, obviously. I really owe you one and--”

“Ace, you’re on break.” Sanji said at once, and Ace wanted to sink into the floor when Nami appeared to shove him into the booth with Marco. Marco’s eyes widened, and he turned to Ace with brows raised and a calculating smile.

“Whatever they tell you, it’s all lies,” Ace said at once, all too conscious of Marco’s thigh next to his, and Marco hummed, tilting his head in consideration.

“And I’m supposed to believe that?” Romantic music started on Sanji’s kitchen stereo, and Ace groaned and rested his head on the table.

“What if I want to believe them?” Marco asked softly, suddenly very close to Ace’s ear, and Ace repressed a shudder.

“Then I suppose I’d have to apologize for wearing my uniform on our first date,” Ace said as he sat up. “But you still shouldn’t listen to them.”

 

 


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For an anon on tumblr for this prompt: if you ever take prompts, you should totally write something short about the moby dick being overrun with something (absolutely anything - rats, bananas, senior citizens who refuse to acknowledge they are lost) and marco/ace dealing with it. Or not, but I love your fics and i think this would be pretty cool!
> 
> The senior citizen one was really tempting, but I hope you like this one too xD

After two years sailing in the Grandline, Ace thought he had seen it all. There had been storms out of nowhere than rained boulders, there had been weird karate seals that followed him around and called him master until Marco had made him send them away, there had been whirlpools, and there had been water shooting straight to the sky, all manner of adventures springing on him from out of nowhere. But they began to lose their entertainment value (boulder storms were becoming so ordinary as to be a chore they fought over who had to protect the ship this time).

“It’s so boring,” Ace said as he flopped on their bed next to Marco, still brushing bits of gravel from his hair. “Here I thought the Grandline would never run out of adventures, but it’s only two years

Marco just shook his head.

“This sea will never fail to surprise you. It would do well not to get cocky,” he said, ruffling Ace’s hair when he scoffed. Ace tackled him in retaliation, and the resulting wrestling had morphed into something that had kept them far too busy to pursue any conversation.  

The next morning, Ace was woken by shouts from deck, and he and Marco were tearing out of their room before Ace was fully conscious. He shook off thoughts about just how he had shorts on at Marco’s grim expression, focusing. The silence of the ship was profound, no one in the halls as they dashed toward the stairs, no noises from any of the rooms they passed, no more screams from on deck, and fear froze Ace’s chest, a chill creeping up on him. 

Before they reached the stairs, they found the first of their crewmates. Vista was prone on the floor in front of the stares, unmoving. They rushed to his side, and Ace’s fingers fumbled as he felt for a pulse while Marco stood on high alert. 

Finally, a steady thrum beat against Ace’s fingers, and he sank to the ground in relief. “He’s alive,” he said, grinning. “It’s almost like he’s asleep.” 

Marco snorted. “In the middle of an attack? He’s not you.”

“Oi!” Ace stood, reminded that whatever was attacking could appear at any moment. “I’ve never fallen asleep during a fight! Not a real one at least,” he added when Marco opened his mouth to protest. 

“Whatever it is, it’s not normal for Vista to fall asleep randomly in the hallway. Let’s put him in a room and move on to find Pops.”

Ace nodded grimly and threw Vista over his shoulder, leaving Marco free in case of attack. He threw him unceremoniously in Izo’s room since it was closest, and they moved toward the stairs. They had to repeat the process several times before they got to the main deck.

“Do you think it’s some sort of devil’s fruit?” Ace asked, and Marco frowned.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, but maybe. Still you think someone would have sensed someone on board. I don’t sense anything odd, do you?”

Ace shook his head, but he was unable to shake the dread weighing on him, and they hurried to Whitebeard’s quarters.  Before they cleared the stairs, Ace whirled around.

“Did you hear that?” The faint giggle echoed in the stairwell. They stood back to back, and Ace scanned the room for any sign of the intruder. A flash of light caught Ace’s eyes, and he burst into flames reflexively as it dove at him. Dust of some sort fell on him sparking as it hit flame with little pops. Giggles echoed.

Ace whirled around. Marco was listing to one side, looking like he could barely stand on his feet. He swore and wrapped them in a bubble of fire to keep whatever it was out. Marco lit up with blue flames, just as Ace wrapped his arms around him to stabilize him.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” Marco shook his head like he was trying to clear it. His eyes focused, and he clutched at Ace. “None of that hit you right?”

“No, I burned it all.” Marco sighed in relief, his grip tightening. Ace let himself be pulled closer, biting his lip to keep from smiling. “What’d it do?”

“I think it makes people fall asleep. Like Vista.”

More giggles sounded from outside the fire, and Ace sighed as he tried to count the shadows zooming around. “What are they?”

“No clue. We’re probably the only ones awake though.”

“Ready?”

“Yeah. Don’t get hit.”

Ace dropped the flames and chased after the nearest blur. It squeaked and tossed the powder at him, and Ace burst into flames.

“No fair!” it squeaked, and Ace’s eyes widened. 

“You can talk!” The blur slowed and a tiny person with wings hovered at his eye level, hands on their hips.

“Of course I can talk. Now go to sleep so we can steal all your treasure.” Another snuck up behind him, but Ace burned the dust without looking.

“General! This one keeps burning it!” The little person stamped their foot in midair, and was joined by the one that had snuck up on Ace.

“The other one is barely affected.” The general wore a little helmet. It was rather cute. “We should have expected something like this. These humans have an impressive reputation from what I’ve heard.”

“Why thank you,” Ace said.

“Oi! I’m not complimenting you.” The general flushed, and Ace bit his lip. Marco came up behind him and rested his chin on Ace’s shoulder. Ace burned the rain of dust showering down on them again, while Marco examined the little general. The tiny people were gathering in front of them now, loudly discussing possible strategies as their general glowered at Ace.

“And who might you be?” Marco asked. 

“We’re pixies, and we’ve come to steal your gold!” The general’s chest puffed up, and Ace grinned. 

“Did you harm any of our comrades?” Ace asked, a flicker of fire trailing up his arms. Marco’s hand rested comfortingly on Ace’s back, and Ace leaned into it gratefully.

“No, they are just all asleep, the fools. It only lasts a few hours though.” l. Ace felt the tensions slide out of Marco, and they both chuckled.

“Every single one of them got caught. Think of the teasing possibilities.” Marco’s whisper against Ace’s ear sent shivers down his spine. A group of the pixies flew in and one rushed to report to the genera

“No gold was found, general!” The general’s eyes bugged out, and Ace snickered. The general whirled back to them.

“Where are you hiding the gold?”

“Hmmm, I don’t remember.” Ace turned to Marco. “Marco, do you remember where we put the gold?”

“Nope, I think it was Haruta’s turn to hide it. Or was it Thatch?”

“You have to know! Tell us now!”

“Why should we?” Ace asked, and the general growled. 

“You will if you want your comrades to wake up ever again!” Marco snorted, his breath tickling over Ace’s skin.

“Didn’t you just say they’d wake up in a few hours?” he asked, and Ace cut off the sneak attack party coming up from behind them, forcing them back to the main group with a sheet of fire. He twisted back, pressing up against Marco as much as possible. Marco kissed his cheek absently.

“Well, you’ll never catch us all! We’ll just keep putting them to sleep until you give in!” 

Ace glanced at Marco, who shrugged. “Okay,” Ace said. “I better go drop the anchor.” He kissed Marco soundly. 

“You mean you’re just going to let us?”

“Why not? They’ll be fine,” Marco said, and Ace grinned as he crossed the deck and released the anchor. The pixies muttered, buzzing around in the air as they conferred. 

“But--” The general was almost plum colored in fury. “Just tell us where the gold is already!”

“Hmmmm, nope.” Marco turned away from the pixies, ignoring the dust they threw at him and tilted his head at Ace. “C’mon let’s go make lunch. Looks like it will just be the two of us.”

“Are you ignoring us?!”

Ace hummed, fighting to keep the amusement off his face, and snagged Marco neatly around the waist. “After lunch, I can think of some fun activities if it is just the two of us. It will be nice. Almost like a honeymoon.” He dragged his teeth down Marco’s neck lightly, relishing his shudders.

“Oi, we’re not here to provide you with a vacation!”

“Do we need to make lunch first?” The heat in Marco’s eyes made it easy to get into the part, and Ace grinned.

“I don’t know, I am pretty hungry.”

Marco rolled his eyes, a fond smile on his lips. “You’re always hungry.”

“True.”

“Argh, fine, who wants your stupid gold, anyway!” Marco’s fingers tightened on Ace’s shoulder, but that was the only sign of triumph he gave as he blinked at the pixie general.

“What?” He asked, and Ace held back a snicker at the incensed look on the pixie’s face. The others buzzed angrily, muttering to themselves.

“You probably don’t have any gold anyway. Big name pirate, right! Like you lovesick fools could be bigshots.” The general turned back to his people. “Retreat, everyone. Let’s find some real pirates this time!” A cheer rose up among them, and they were gone in flash of light, zooming away into the sky.

They watched until, they were sure they were gone, and then burst out laughing, clinging to each other. 

When they’d finally stopped, they went on a round to check that everyone was indeed okay.

“I told you,” Marco said as they finished putting Whitebeard to bed properly. “Always something new.” 

Ace snorted. “That’s for sure.”He laced his fingers through Marco’s. “So it was an epic battle right?”

“Oh definitely. They’re all lucky to be alive. We managed to chase them off by the skin of our teeth” Marco grinned at him. “It will make for a great story.” Ace’s stomach growled, and they both laughed. 

“But first lunch,” Marco said, smiling wickedly. “And then we still will have some time before we get to tell it.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure out something to while away the time.” 

  
  



	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was for an anon on tumblr, who wanted someone getting lost and entering in a mysterious old bookstore by chance? Marco / Ace modern AU
> 
> I got a bit more carried away than I expected haha

Ace sighed as the rain turned from the annoyed drizzle to a full on downpour and scowled. Here he was in a strange city, with one twenty dollar bill in his pocket and nowhere to go. The plan had been to find someplace to work a few hours for some food, maybe even find some shelter, but in this rain that didn’t seem likely. His eyes squinted into the downpour, looking for a bridge or anywhere dry and out of the way enough that no one would send him packing. Though with the rain he doubted anyone would care to check to vagrant. 

The wind blew furiously as he rounded the corner, spitting rain into his face, and Ace shivered constantly in the cool air, clutching his worn jacket around his shoulders. In the dim street, a cheery light glowed, and he turned toward it automatically. An old fashioned wooden sign swayed wildly in the wind, and Ace barely made out its lettering through the sheets of rain.

_ Moby Dick, fine book purveyors _

It was only mid-afternoon, though it was impossible to tell by how dark it was, and the shop was open by looks of it. Ace’s hand reached out to the door before he’d even thought it over, but he shrugged mentally. He might as well warm up and hope for the storm to die down so he could get a feel for the city. They might even have something warm to drink, though he wasn’t holding his breath, and he could ill afford to spend any money.

The bell of the shop jingled cheerfully, and at once Ace was bathed in warmth. He blinked in the light, shaking the water out of his eyes, and an old man got up from an arm chair behind the counter to greet him. Ace was taken aback at once by the man’s warm smile as his eyes flicked over Ace appraisingly. There was no suspicion or derision in his eyes, just a warm curiosity that was hard to resent, though Ace tried his best, even as he dripped all over the beautifully polished wood floor. 

After a moment’s silence, the man nodded to himself and turned to turn on the kettle. 

“Tea or coffee?” he asked, and Ace raised his hands. 

“That’s quite alright, sir. I don’t--” he said, and the man turned back over his shoulder to squint at Ace. He resisted the urge to shuffle but just barely.

“You won’t make an old man drink his coffee-- you look like a coffee man, am I right?” Ace nodded when he was frowned at and straightened. “Good, you stand there now and let me get a towel.” He started up the stairs behind the counter before Ace could react, and Ace’s lips quirked, sure that even if he had any objections to this man’s plans, they would be completely overridden. 

The small store was stuffed ceiling to floor with books, shelves almost audibly groaning at the sheer quantity. They were arranged in a very confusing pattern. The books looked old, most of them, and expensive, but there was a section near the back that seemed to have more typical books. No matter where they were they were shoved in haphazardly, in precarious piles that looked somehow both as if they’d fall over if you looked at them wrong and like they’d been standing just like that for decades. The whole place was awash in a warm light, with airchairs that looked like you might never get out of them strewn about throughout the store. 

Ace inhaled, savoring the comforting scent of books that wrapped around him, just as the strange old man came thundering back down the stairs. He held out a bath towel and tossed it at Ace.

“Thank you,” Ace said reflexively and was rewarded by a smile.

“It’s a miserable day to be out,” the man said as he turned to fixing the coffee, a simple statement, and Ace nodded devoutly and began mopping himself up. “Looks like you’ll be here a while.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose. I can’t--”

“Nonsense, son,” the man said, and Ace blinked at him, freezing in the middle of drying his hair. “I’m Edward Newgate, owner of this store, but most people call me Whitebeard.” He gestured to Ace to hang the towel up by the gas fireplace and settled back in his chair, the coffee cups on a table near him.  Ace gingerly sat in the chair next to him, his boots squishing with every step, his bag at his feet. The wind blew hard again, the glass rattling in the widows, but it seemed far away now.

“I’m Ace.” 

“I don’t suppose you have some time this afternoon?” Whitebeard asked, and Ace held back a scoff, for it was surely obvious that Ace had nothing but time and nodded slowly instead. Whitebeard poured a generous dollop of cream into Ace’s coffee, studied him for a minute, then added a few spoons of sugar. Ace wrapped his hands around the coffee mug when it was shoved at him, warmth seeping into him sinfully. 

“Yeah, of course.”

The first sip was delightfully scorching, and Whitebeard shoved a plate of cookies at him.It took all of Ace’s willpower not to devour the lot at once. Breakfast had been scanty and was a long time ago by now. 

“I wonder if you might help me move some inventory then? I’d pay of course.” Whitebeard’s grin was contagious, and Ace found himself smiling back. “This old back’s not what it used to be.”

“I don’t need your pity, old man,” Ace said. “I’m fine.”

Whitebeard sighed and looked at one of the massive pile of books. “It wasn’t pity, son, but if you need to go, I’ll understand.”

Ace sighed, looking at the pile of books. It did look like a lot of work, especially for an old man. “I guess I could help for a few hours.”

Even after a month had passed, Ace never stopped pretending he was going to leave the next day. Whitebeard had firmly steered him into a comfortably furnished spare room in his apartment above the shop, and Ace had been too exhausted to refuse the first real bed he’d had the chance to sleep in in weeks. The work Whitebeard had him doing was easy enough though, and it only took a few days before Ace was starting to feel like his old self, especially as Whitebeard insisted on feeding him all time. 

“You should take the day off today, son.” Whitebeard waved away Ace’s protest before he could get it out around the bacon and eggs he had shoved in his mouth. “Marco’s coming in today, so I’ll be fine. It’s a gorgeous day, and you should get to see some of the city.”

“Marco?” Ace asked, and Whitebeard beamed, pride radiating from him.

“My first son,” he said, and his eyes grew distant for a moment before he shook himself. “You remind me a bit of him, actually. He walked in here much like you did. It was storming that day too.”

“Oh,” Ace said and bit down on his lower lip. Other people had been dragged into this weird kidnapping rescue situation? “Your first son? How many do you have?”

“Fifteen,” Whitebeard said, then he shot a glance at Ace, mischief dancing in his eyes. “Well, sixteen I suppose,” he said and Ace barely saved himself from spitting out his coffee and glared at him. 

“Must be quite a sight at Christmas,” he managed at last, deciding to ignore the implications, and Whitebeard laughed. He didn’t need nor want a father.

“Never a dull moment with them, that’s for sure. I’ve been lonely lately, as the last moved out last year, but they’re all off chasing their dreams, and what more can a father ask? Christmas is quite the even though, you’re right about that son.” 

Ace wanted to tell him there would be no way he’d be there, that he wasn’t one one of Whitebeard’s family of strays, but something held his tongue, as warmth coiled in his chest. He might have only known this man for a week, but something about his open affection, his oh-so-practiced way that Whitebeard never really asked anything from him, but was just there, offering a helping hand in a way that didn’t make Ace feel quite so lost anymore without smothering him. 

Still this wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. He was striking out on his own. If Whitebeard had sons, he wouldn’t need Ace’s help anyways. When he left, he’d bring his stuff. This was a nice stop, but he really ought to be going, continuing his journey. Nevermind that he didn’t have a  destination or goal-- whatever he was aiming for couldn’t be found here in a mysterious bookstore with an old man who collected strays.

“I’m not going to be one of your sons, you crazy old man,” he said stubbornly, crossing his arms and scowling, and Whitebeard’s answering smile could only be described as indulgent. 

“It’s your choice, son.”

The door to the apartment opened, and Ace turned to it in surprise, shifting into a defensive posture automatically.

“Good morning, Pops...” A blond man strolled in and trailed off at the sight of Ace. His brows raised, and once again Ace found himself under scrutiny. “Hello.”

“Good morning, Marco.”

“Hi,” Ace said and was rewarded by an understanding smile, one that had Ace scrambling for words or wits or anything really, but Marco just pressed on.

“He’s not as insane as he seems,” he said and winked at Ace, who raised his brows, recovering his equilibrium. Whitebeard’s son might be ridiculously attractive, but really, no one can pull off winking without looking like an utter dork. It was oddly endearing though, and Ace quashed that thought at once. Or tried to.

Ace leaned towards Marco, like he was going to tell a secret “I think it’s just contagious,” he fake whispered, then turned to Whitebeard. “Luckily I’m immune,” he said, and Whitebeard exploded with laughter.

“Off with you, son.” Whitebeard waved him off. “Dinner’s at seven.”

“Bye, old man.” Ace felt his throat tighten, and he rose and slipped out the door. He wouldn’t be back for dinner anyway. “Thank you.”

It was only when he was halfway down the street when he realized he’d left the bag with all his stuff in the apartment, and he swore.

Tomorrow then.

When Ace came back, the store was closed, but when he tried the door, it was unlocked. Ace hesitated a moment, then shrugged and entered, locking up behind him and frowning at the lamp they’d left on for him as he turned it off. He climbed the stairs, and found the apartment door waiting open invitingly. 

A rich smell greeted him, and Ace sighed appreciatively as he walked in the door. A laugh startled him, and he turned to see Marco was still there, reading on the couch. He set aside his book with a smile. 

“Nothing smells as good as Pop’s Beef Stroganoff,” he said, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. He patted the couch next to him, and Ace found himself sitting next Marco before he new it. He narrowed his eyes at Marco suspiciously, which just made his smile grow.

“What?”

“You do it too, just like he does.”

“Like Pops? What?” Marco’s honest look of bafflement had Ace’s lips twitching with a smile..

“The thing.”

“The annoying thing where he just says something so reasonably you find yourself doing it even though you weren’t sure you wanted to?” Marco asked, affront oozing out of every word, even as Ace nodded. “I most certainly do  _ not _ .” Ace looked pointedly at the couch he was now sitting on and then back at Marco, who looked absolutely horrified at the revelation. 

He grinned at Marco and made a show of getting up to go to the kitchen to see if he could help. Marco followed him in, and Ace watched in fascination as they bickered good naturedly and got dinner on the table. Talk at dinner was lighthearted, and though Ace mostly observed, lively enough. He could clearly see the affection between them, nothing quite like he was used to, but it was still readily apparent in the way they traded news.

It made him miss Luffy.

He got up abruptly and started gathering the dishes up. Marco and Whitebeard both turned to him, startled, but Ace smiled a little.

“I’ll get started on the dishes.”

He’d just gotten the sink to give hot water when Marco followed him in, the remaining dishes piled precariously in his hands. They started slipping, and Ace reached out to take the top half before they all fell. 

“Thanks,” Marco said, and Ace rolled his eyes.

“You could have taken two trips.”

“But that’s cheating!” Marco grinned at him nudged him out of the way of the sink. “I’ll wash, you dry and put away.”

“I got...” Ace huffed and got a towel off the oven door. “Fine.”

Marco shut off the sink and started scrubbing, looking at the large pile of . “I really should get Pops a dishwasher for Christmas, don’t you think?”

“He told me he likes doing dishes,” Ace said, and Marco laughed, shaking his head as he rinsed the first plate.

“Yeah, but that’s just the lie people without dishwashers tell themselves.” Ace took the plate from him and started drying.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of soothing,” Ace said, and he found the cupboard with the plates on the first try this time, which made him frown when he realized Marco was watching him, an expression he couldn’t quite read on his face.

“True.” 

They did the dishes in silence for a few minutes before Ace drew in a deep breath.

“Why do you call him Pops?” Marco hummed and handed him the last dish. When he turned around, his grin was bright enough it reminded him of Luffy again.

“Because it makes me-- us, really, we all call him that-- happy.”

Ace hummed. “I’m going to bed. Tell Pops I said good night.” Marco’s smile was too understanding, and Ace’s shoulders itched with the weight of his gaze as he slunk off to his room, only realizing later what he’d let slip.

Marco started coming by multiple times a week after that and all fourteen of the others dropped by at least once over the next few months. Ace bristled at the thought that they’d avoided coming when he was settling in, like he was a stray cat that had to be introduced to the rest of the household or something. They were quite something en masse, and Ace’s grin stretched at the thought of the last time that Haruta and Thatch had dropped by and dragged Marco and him out for some fun.

Whenever Marco would come, they’d spend the time between customers, arguing over books or just chatting. Marco had told him a bit more about his life before he’d met Whitebeard, and Ace had told him about Luffy, though he left out most of the details of his past. 

It was Marco’s day in the shop, and Whitebeard had excused himself just before the new shipment of books came in, claiming the need to watch his favorite home improvement show. Marco had just rolled his eyes, muttering to Ace that they’d be repainting the place before he knew it. 

Ace glanced right behind him again to where Marco was restocking the thrillers that had just come in, back stretching and rippling as he reached for the top shelf. He tore his gaze firmly back to his own section. He trailed a thumb over the spine of the musty old book, mentally running through the alphabet and sliding that one into place.

He reached down, contorting to grab the next book without getting all the way off the ladder. Marco made a strangled noise, and Ace looked over to him just as he put his hand on the next book.

“You okay?” he asked, and Marco nodded tersely, still facing his shelf, and coughed.

“All that dust you know. You never get used to it.” Ace hummed in agreement, tore his eyes away again, and stood back up on the ladder to put the book away. That done, he reached again for the book, straining to get one that was just out of his reach. His fingertips brushed it and he grinned, reaching out just a bit more. The world jolted as the ladder rocked, and suddenly hands gripped his waist and he was on the ground.

“You need to be more careful,” Marco said breathlessly, and Ace’s mouth went dry, his heart still pounding from almost falling off the ladder. They were pressed together, Ace’s hands on Marco’s chest, rising and falling with his quickened breath. Ace scrambled for words, but Marco was so close, and his mind was foggy. He licked his lips, heart clenching in his chest when Marco followed the gesture with his eyes. 

“Yeah,” he managed, his voice deep and gravelly. Ace was never sure who made the first move, but they were kissing, and the sheer relief of having Marco’s lips finally against his own was dizzying. Ace clung to Marco’s shirt when the kiss deepened, his knees no longer capable of holding him up. 

Marco hummed into his mouth, and Ace found himself pressed up against the shelf he’d been stocking. It dug into his back, but he paid it no heed, wrapping a leg around Marco to pull him flush. They gasped into the kiss, and Marco tangled a hand into Ace’s hair. He nipped at Ace’s lower lip, sending sharp spikes of pleasure shooting through Ace. He dug his nails into Marco’s back, breaking away to kiss down Marco’s throat, nipping and sucking just like he’d most certainly not fantasized about this morning at breakfast. Marco moaned, and the sound was better than Ace could have imagined. 

There was a movement out of the corner of Ace’s eyes, and his eyes widened. He drew back, and Marco made a noise of protest before opening his eyes enough to see Ace staring behind him at Whitebeard, and turned enough to see for himself. 

“I-- We...” Ace started, and Marco just sighed, muttering something about being insufferably smug.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Whitebeard said, his eyes dancing. “I’m just browsing. Carry on.” He laughed when they both groaned and took himself off, back upstairs and Ace leaned back into Marco with a goofy grin.

“Now where were we?”


End file.
